LONDON - A British teacher jailed in Sudan for letting her pupils name a teddy bear Mohammad arrived back in London on Tuesday after being pardoned and freed.
Gillian Gibbons, sentenced last week to 15 days in jail for insulting Islam, arrived at Heathrow airport on a flight from Khartoum along with two prominent British Muslim legislators who had appealed to Sudan's President for her early release.
A smiling Gibbons was met by her son John and daughter Jessica at the arrival lounge of the airport and was expected to hold a news conference. The plane touched down at around 7:05 a.m.
Gibbons prompted a complaint after she let her pupils at Khartoum's private Unity High School pick their favourite name for a teddy bear as part of a project in September.
Twenty out of 23 of them chose Mohammad -- a popular boy's name in Sudan, as well as the name of Islam's Prophet.
Gibbons apologised on Monday for any distress she may have caused to the people of Sudan and said she had encountered "nothing but kindness and generosity from the Sudanese people".
Prime Minister Gordon Brown, whose country has had strained relations with Sudan for several years, mainly due to the conflict in Darfur, said he was "delighted and relieved" to hear Gibbons had been pardoned and freed.
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