UK to press for teddy row teacher's release

LONDON - The government said it would be pressing on Friday for the release of a teacher sentenced to 15 days in jail for insulting Islam by allowing her pupils to name a teddy bear Mohammad.

Gillian Gibbons, 54, was sentenced to 15 days in prison followed by deportation by a court in Sudan on Thursday after being charged with insulting religion.

The teacher, who was cleared of inciting hatred and showing contempt for religious beliefs, had faced the prospect of up to one year in jail, 40 lashes or a fine.

After the verdict, Britain's Foreign Secretary David Miliband immediately summoned Sudan's ambassador to London for a meeting, a diplomatic manoeuvre that generally signifies great disapproval.

"During the meeting, which lasted 45 minutes, the Foreign Secretary expressed in the strongest terms our concern at the continued detention of Gillian Gibbons," the Foreign Office said in a statement.

"The Foreign Secretary also spoke to the Sudanese Acting Foreign Minister for 15 minutes on the telephone during the meeting."

Miliband has said he has tried to get over the message that Gibbons had been involved in an "innocent misunderstanding" and nothing more.

The Foreign Office said there would be further "contacts" on Friday with the Sudanese authorities to bring about "a swift resolution of this issue".

British Muslim groups have condemned the Sudanese court's decision and the fact that the case even ended up in the court in the first place.

"This case should have required only simple common sense to resolve," said Dr Muhammad Abdul Bari, Secretary-General of the Muslim Council of Britain.

"It is unfortunate that the Sudanese authorities were found wanting in this most basic of qualities. They grossly overreacted in this sad affair and this episode.

"Gillian should never have been arrested, let alone charged and convicted of committing a crime."

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, spiritual leader of the Anglican Church, also condemned the verdict.

"I can't see any justification for this. It is an absurdly disproportionate response to what is at worst a cultural faux pas," he told BBC television.

However Robert Boulos, headteacher of Unity high school where Gibbons worked, said it was fair.

"We are happy with the verdict," he said. "We will be very sad to lose her."