Former Coronation Street actor Qasim Akhtar is to receive "substantial" libel damages from News Group Newspapers (NGN), publisher of the Sun, settling a High Court claim he brought earlier this year. The case centred on a November article that falsely claimed Akhtar had "backed" and "teamed up with" Islamic cleric Uthman ibn Farooq, linked him to extremism, radicalisation and violence, and wrongly stated he had "moved to Pakistan" and "trained with guns" — allegations NGN has now admitted were entirely false and caused serious reputational and personal harm.

Akhtar, who played Zeedan Nazir in the ITV soap between 2014-2018 and 2021-2023, did not attend court, but his lawyer read a statement confirming NGN would pay substantial damages and his legal costs, noting the publisher had failed to seek his response before publishing the claims. The Sun had already apologised "unreservedly" in May, and NGN's barrister told the court the article "should never have been published", with an undertaking never to repeat the allegations. Akhtar said in June that the ordeal had "deeply affected" his reputation, family, safety and peace of mind.