A Muslim activist who served a prison sentence for his role in an overseas terror plot is now seeking elected office in Birmingham, Britain’s second-largest city, as local elections approach amid heightened communal tensions.

Shahid Butt was convicted by a Yemeni court in 1999 and sentenced to five years in prison after being found guilty of forming an armed gang and conspiring to bomb the British consulate in Aden, an Anglican church and a Swiss-owned hotel in Yemen. At the time, Yemeni prosecutors said the group had been sent to carry out violence by Abu Hamza, the extremist preacher who was the father of one of the convicted men.

He is now standing as a candidate for the newly formed Independent Candidates Alliance in the May 7 Birmingham City Council elections.

Butt maintains his innocence, claiming his confession was coerced through torture, and that evidence against him was planted, The Daily Telegraph reported.

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He will contest the Sparkhill ward, an area where nearly two-thirds of residents are of Pakistani background, according to The Daily Telegraph.

Butt’s candidacy comes as Birmingham — home to one of the largest Muslim populations in the U.K. — has faced renewed strains over foreign policy, identity politics and public order. Those tensions came into sharp focus last November when Israeli soccer club Maccabi Tel Aviv played Aston Villa in a Europa Conference League match.

Ahead of the game, Butt used social media to call on Muslims from around the country to travel to Birmingham to show solidarity with Palestinians and to prevent the Israeli team’s supporters from, in his words, "desecrating" and "dirtying" the city. In one post, he referred to the visiting fans as "IDF babykillers," according to Birmingham live.

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Authorities ultimately barred Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters from attending the match, citing security concerns, after large-scale protests were planned.

In a video posted from a protest connected to the fixture, Butt made comments that critics say crossed from political speech into the endorsement of violence. "Muslims are not pacifists," Butt said in the video. "If somebody comes into your face, you knock his teeth out — that’s my message to the youth."

Emma Schubart, a researcher at the Henry Jackson Society, said the developments reveal deeper fractures within British society. "Shahid Butt, a convicted terrorist, is standing for election in a ward that is around 80% Muslim. Maccabi Tel Aviv fans were banned from the second-largest city in the U.K. which is now nearly a third Muslim," Schubart said.

"Politically," she added, "These events foreshadow a likely Muslim sectarian sweep in the local elections, since candidates like Butt are poised to erode Labour’s hold on seats throughout Birmingham."

The Independent Candidates Alliance was founded by activists Akhmed Yakoob and Shakeel Afsar, both of whom ran unsuccessfully in Birmingham constituencies during the 2024 general election on a pro-Gaza platform. The group is expected to field candidates in around 20 wards across the city.

Numerous worshippers from at least two churches in Nigeria were kidnapped during Sunday services by armed gangs, Reuters reported.

While Kaduna state police on Monday reportedly cited conservative figures, saying dozens were being held captive as the investigation remains in its early stages, a senior church leader noted that more than 160 worshippers were abducted by gunmen over the weekend. 

Sunday’s incident, which BBC said targeted both Christians and Muslims, marks the latest mass kidnapping in Nigeria’s long-running streak of religiously fueled attacks. Muslim Fulani militants frequently carry out violence in northern and central parts of Nigeria to bankrupt Christian communities while receiving ransom payments. 

Kaduna state police said gunmen armed with "sophisticated weapons" attacked two churches in the village of Kurmin Wali in Afogo ward at about 11:25 a.m. on Sunday, Reuters reported.

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Reverend John Hayab, the chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria located in the northern part of the country, told Reuters:

"Information came to me from the elders of the churches that 172 worshipers were abducted while nine escaped," Hayab said.

Early estimates from security agencies tend to be conservative, while community and religious leaders often report higher numbers. In Nigeria, casualty and abduction figures often vary widely in the days following mass kidnappings.

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Police said troops and other security agencies had been deployed to the area, with efforts underway to track the abductors and secure the release of the captives, Reuters reported. 

Nigeria has experienced a dramatic surge in mass attacks by armed gangs, particularly Islamist militants, who often operate from forest enclaves and target villages, schools and places of worship.

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In 2025, Nigeria was named the epicenter of global killings of Christians, according to the Open Doors World Watch List. The report noted that while Muslims are also frequently attacked, Christians have been "disproportionately targeted," with one in five African Christians facing high levels of persecution.

In November, 52 Catholic students, along with several staff members, were kidnapped by gunmen at St. Mary’s School in Nigeria, The Associated Press reported.

In April, the Evangelical Church Winning All, a major church based in West Africa, said it paid the equivalent of $205,000 in ransom to secure the release of roughly 50 members kidnapped in Kaduna, Nigerian lawyer Jabez Musa told Fox News Digital.

Fox News Digital's Paul Tilsley, Rachel Wolf, Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

While Christians in America enjoy religious freedom, many Christians around the world suffer persecution, and some are even martyred for their faith.

Open Doors' World Watch List 2026 discusses the anti-Christian persecution in dozens of nations around the globe.

The list includes 50 countries — here's a closer look at several of them:

North Korea, a notoriously autocratic country ruled by Kim Jong Un, is one of the nation's included in the list.

"If you are found to be a Christian in North Korea, you and your family could be immediately executed or sent to a terrible labor camp – forever," Open Doors notes. 

"North Koreans may only pay homage to the Kim regime, not God. Christian gatherings must be completely secret; a neighbor could inform on you with devastating results."

Somalia, a nation located in the Horn of Africa, is also included on the list.

"Anybody becoming a Christian in Somalia faces danger on all sides: from the authorities, from your clan and from anti-Christian extremists," the report notes. "It’s illegal for a Muslim to become a Christian. Christians have no legal protection and can be harassed and intimidated by the authorities. Leaving Islam is also seen as seriously dishonoring your family and clan: they may disown, attack or even kill you."

Al-Shabaab — which is designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. — has grown "more dominant in certain areas," Open Doors notes, explaining that the group seeks "to eradicate Christianity, openly executing suspected believers."

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Yemen, a nation in the Middle East, comes next on the list.

Most Christians there have "converted from Islam," according to the list, which says they "must practice their faith in absolute secrecy or risk a death sentence." 

"Last year, Western airstrikes were framed by the Houthis as ‘Christian aggression,’ pushing believers further underground," Open Doors says.

The report highlighted the personal story of Aweis, whose own father told him that if he became a Christian, he would kill him.

"Aweis knew the dangers of following Jesus in Somalia the moment he showed his father a New Testament, which he obtained after becoming curious about Christianity," Open Doors explains.

"I cannot stop you from reading your Bible," his father noted, according to the report. "But if you become a Christian, I’ll be the one to kill you."

The report adds, "Aweis later gave his life to Jesus."

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A civil war in Sudan has caused the globe's "largest humanitarian crisis," the list says. "The Christian community is hungry, on the run and facing strong persecution at the same time."

Sudan is located in Africa.

"Sudan’s brief period of religious freedom has been rowed back, and oppressive ‘morality policies’ are back in force. Christians can face physical punishment to convert to Islam, with church leaders arrested. Many church buildings have been closed, bombed or taken over by militia groups," according to Open Doors. "New Christians face rejection from their families and violence from Islamic extremist groups. In a lawless vacuum, they have no protection."