Sudan Charges Brit Over "Muhammad" Bear

British Woman Who Let 7-Year-Old Students Name Teddy Bear Faces 40 Lashes, Prison

(CBS/AP)  Sudan charged a British teacher Wednesday with inciting religious hatred after she allowed her students to name a teddy bear Muhammad, an offense that could subject her to 40 lashes, the Justice Ministry said.

The charge against Gillian Gibbons was sure to heighten tensions between Sudan and Britain. In London, Foreign Secretary David Miliband urgently summoned the Sudanese ambassador to discuss the case, the British government said.

Gibbons, 54, was arrested Sunday after some of her pupils' parents complained, accusing her of naming the bear after Islam's prophet. Muhammad is a common name among Muslim men, but giving the prophet's name to an animal would be seen as insulting by many Muslims.

Prosecutor General Salah Eddin Abu Zaid said Gibbons was charged under article 125 of the Sudanese legal code and her case would be referred to court Thursday.

If convicted, she faces up to 40 lashes, six months and prison and a fine, said Abdul Daem Zumrawi, the Justice Ministry's undersecretary.

"What will be applied is (at) the discretionary power of the judge to issue the verdict," he was quoted as saying by the official Sudanese News Agency.

The meeting between Miliband and the Sudanese ambassador to discuss the charge against Gibbons would take place as soon as possible, according to the British Foreign Office.

"We are surprised and disappointed by this development and the Foreign Secretary will summon as a matter of urgency the Sudanese ambassador to discuss the matter further," said Michael Ellam, a spokesman for British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's office.

Miliband would ask the "for the rationale behind the charges and a sense of what the next steps might be" amid an escalating diplomatic dispute in the case, he said.

"We will consider our response in the light of that," Ellam said.

In Khartoum, the British Embassy said diplomats had been allowed to visit Gibbons on Wednesday. "She said she was being well-treated and that she was OK," said embassy spokesman Omar Daair.

Gibbons was teaching her pupils, who are around age 7, about animals and asked one of them to bring in her teddy bear, said Robert Boulos, a spokesman for Unity High School in Khartoum. She asked the students to pick names for it and they proposed Abdullah, Hassan and Muhammad, and in September, the pupils voted to name it Muhammad, he said.

Each child was allowed to take the bear home on weekends and write a diary about what they did with it. The diary entries were collected in a book with the bear's picture on the cover, labeled, "My Name is Muhammad," he said. The bear itself was never labeled with the name, he added.

The Unity High School, a private English-language school with elementary to high school levels, was founded by Christian groups, but 90 percent of its students are Muslim, mostly from upper-class Sudanese families.

Several Sudanese newspapers ran a statement Tuesday reportedly from the school, saying the administration "offers an official apology to the students and their families and all Muslims for what came from an individual initiative." It said Gibbons had been "removed from her work at the school."

The Sudanese Foreign Ministry on Tuesday played down the significance of the case, calling it "isolated despite our condemnation and rejection of it."

Ministry spokesman Ali al-Sadeq said it was an incidence of a "teacher's misconduct against the Islamic faith" but noted the school's apology.

The statement from the school in newspapers called it a "misunderstanding." It underlined the school's "deep respect for the heavenly religions" and for the "beliefs of Muslims and their rituals."

Although Khartoum officials played down the case and said it was an isolated incident, Sudan's top clerics said in a statement Wednesday that the full measure of the law should be applied against Gibbons, calling the incident part of a broader Western "plot" against Islam.

Northern Sudan's legal system is based on Islam's Sharia law, which harshly punishes blasphemy. Any depiction of the prophet is forbidden in Islam, for fear it would provoke idolatry. Caricatures of Muhammad in some European media last year sparked riots in several Muslim countries.

The Sudanese clerics said this was blasphemy and believed it was intentional.

"What has happened was not haphazard or carried out of ignorance, but rather a calculated action and another ring in the circles of plotting against Islam," the Sudanese Assembly of the Ulemas said the statement.

"It is part of the campaign of the so-called war against terrorism and the intense media campaign against Islam," they said.

Although an earlier report had suggested that only one parent had complained, the clergy statement Wednesday said that several had complained.

There have been widespread calls in Britain for Gibbons' release. The Muslim Council of Britain calls upon the Sudanese government to intervene.

"This is a very unfortunate incident and Ms. Gibbons should never have been arrested in the first place. It is obvious that no malice was intended," said Muhammad Abdul Bari, the council's secretary-general.

British opposition Conservative party lawmaker William Hague called on the British government to "make it clear to the Sudanese authorities that she should be released immediately."

"To condemn Gillian Gibbons to such brutal and barbaric punishment for what appears to be an innocent mistake is clearly unacceptable," he said.

[cmsjohn]

Suggest the British Government take every action to immediately close the school the let''s see how the rich that send their kids there have to say.
I would also insist that the teacher be released immediately otherwise we (the British) are prepared to come and get her.

[cmsjohn]

I believe that the British Government should take every action to close the school down. Then let''s hear from the rich zealots that have their kids attend there.

[rational_1]

"Backwards freaks."
Posted by Mythoughtsr at 08:09 AM : Nov 29, 2007

Succinct, observant and accurate!

[rational_1]

"Sudan charged a British teacher Wednesday with inciting religious hatred after she allowed her students to name a teddy bear..."

Judging by the comments below if the Sudanese flog this poor woman we''ll all know exactly who is really responsible for "inciting religious hatred". By the way, I''m thinking of naming my kid''s pet turtle Muhammed. Come and get me.

[feedback3-2009]

I just hope the seven year olds responsible for this outrageous offense are also held accountable. They should be lashed, or set on fire, or perhaps lose a limb. I know it is a difficult choice since they have so many 12th century barbaric practices to choose from. At least the martyr bear is now safe in heaven with his 72 virgins.

[gunownerdan]

Founding father Thomas Paine definitely said it best....

"Persecution is not an original feature in any religion; but it is always the strongly marked feature of all law-religions, or religions established by law."
-- Thomas Paine

au.org

[gunownerdan]

When your religion is threatened by cartoons or a teddy bear, maybe it''s time to find a stronger faith?!?!?!?!?!?!?

[juwboy]

The racist, homophobic, African-American, Black Muslim bigot, Louis Farrakhan, called Judaism "a gutter religion".

This report proves that Islam isn''t a gutter religion, it''s a cesspit religion.

[juwboy]

Here''s another case to add to the one above and the gang-raped Saudi woman who was sentenced to 200 lashes.

An Egyptian father filed a criminal complaint against a grade school principal who''d molested his young son.
The teacher was found guilty by the secular criminal court but the conviction was overturned by the "religious" authorities.

Instead, the FATHER was sentenced to 60 lashes and a prison term for defaming the principal.

[nishaboston]

If you go to another country to live or visit you need to find out the cultural values, rules and way before you go, no matter how foolish they might sound.

[rudy654-2009]

Like someone said elsewhere
Choose the one who is the worst insult to Islam:

a) Mohammed Atta
b) Mohammed Ali Hamadi
c) Mohammed Mansour Jabarah
d) Khalid Sheik Mohammed
e) Mohammed the Teddy Bear

[rudy654-2009]

Maybe the Muslim kids who voted should be lashed. Maybe their parents should be whipped as well for not bringing up their kids better. My kids aren''''t naming any teddy bears Jesus or God or Moses.
Posted by NeverWrong9 at 01:05 AM

You know, you have a good point there. Who is more responsible, the teacher who allowed the kids to name the teddy bear Muhammed, or the parents of the kids who didn''t know to teach them better? Wouldn''t it be such royal justice that the very parents who complained now get 40 lashes for not teaching their own kids what is proper in their religion? Anyway, I think they are just looking for an excuse to whip on some old woman. Gives them a little thrill. And I personally think that Western Nations should hold these judges and leaders of Sudan and Saudi Arabia responsible for their barbarity, by making them wanted people who will be prosecuted the minute they get off the plane. That way they make sure they stay at home.

[linfinster]

"What has happened was not haphazard or carried out of ignorance, but rather a calculated action and another ring in the circles of plotting against Islam," the Sudanese Assembly of the Ulemas said the statement.


I think someone forgot to take his paranoia medication ....

what a sick, disgusting world we live in. So dirty with the hate and evil that exists ... I''m going to go take my antidepressant now ...

[neverwrong9]

Maybe we should go through our prisons, jails, jaywalking tickets and Santa''s naughty list, find all the Muslims with Muhammad in their name and persecute them as a favor to the Islamic world for bringing disrespect to their prophet via their indiscretions.

Maybe the Muslim kids who voted should be lashed. Maybe their parents should be whipped as well for not bringing up their kids better. My kids aren''t naming any teddy bears Jesus or God or Moses.

And maybe if they expect everybody to follow their religious laws and traditions and not respect everybody''s diversity then maybe we should expect them to follow ours in our country, eat pork, marshmallows and sing Silent Night in the Christmas pageant.

Nothing more than a bunch of freakin'' hypocrites!

[omded]

Holy Smokaroonies!!! I suppose the fine folks in Sudan will now have to give 40 lashes to each student who voted for the name "Mahamed" too. Since laws can be made by any country, any way they see fit, I encourage Great Brittan to make a new law that states as follows:
For every lashing that is given by the Sudanese to a Brittish Citizen for something that isn''t a crime in England, a lashing of equal force and strength shall be given to the Sudanese Ambasador, or to a high ranking Sudanese Official upon his/her next visit to England.

Wow, these extreme Islamic Bozo''s are really inspiring me to respect their religious icon! I think I will name my pet pig Mohammad -- oh how many death threats will I get now? You muslim extremists need to grow a few brains! Logic should tell you that if this Mohammad chap really is all that great, he won''t be the least bit offended if his name is given to anything. Any God who is that great would be far too busy to get upset by something so petty, especially when the "perpetrator" never meant any harm. Any Mohammad who would is no better than an egotistical human.

[rudy654-2009]

hey man! I just report the info, I don''''t make it or the reasons for it.Posted by ToolMangler at 10:21 PM

It sounds like individual interpretation to me.

[ajmarine1]

Posted by j-whitman at 11:04 PM : Nov 28, 2007


Stuff like this is bond to come out next year, who knows who the front runners will end up being.


It''s that time of night again, I''ve got to go home or I will turn into a pumpkin.

Have a good night.

[j-whitman]

AJ,,, Other breaking news on Rudy --- He used city money to pay for his expenses with his Love Nest rondevouxs.

[ajmarine1]

But there was another reason to think twice about accepting al-Thani''s generosity that Giuliani had to have been aware of, even as he heaped praise on the emir. Al Jazeera, the Arabic news network based in Qatar (pronounced "Cutter"), had been all but created by al-Thani, who was its largest shareholder. The Bush administration was so upset with the coverage of Osama bin Laden''s pronouncements and the U.S. threats to bomb Afghanistan that Secretary of State Colin Powell met the emir just hours before Giuliani''s on-air endorsement and asked him to tone down the state-subsidized channel''s Islamist footage and rhetoric. The six-foot-eight, 350-pound al-Thani, who was pumping about $30 million a year into Al Jazeera at the time, refused Powell''s request, citing the need for "a free and credible media." The administration''s burgeoning distaste for what it would later brand "Terror TV" was already so palpable that King%u2014hardly a newsman%u2014asked the emir if he would help "spread the word" that the U.S. was "not targeting the average Afghan citizen." Al-Thani ignored the question%u2014right before Giuliani rushed in to praise him again.


http://voxverax.blogspot.com/2007/11/rudys-ties-to-terror-sheikh.html

[toolmangler-2009]

http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0748,ba
rrett,78478,6.html
Posted by AJMarine1 at 10:28 PM : Nov 28, 2007


''J'', AJ, I am with you on this one.