British Teacher Freed In Sudan

(CBS/AP)  A British teacher jailed after she allowed her students to name a teddy bear Muhammad was released Monday hours after Sudan's president pardoned her, a British embassy spokesman said.

An official at the British Embassy said she was on her way home Monday night. "I can confirm she has left Sudan," spokesman Omar Daair told The Associated Press.

The teacher, Gillian Gibbons, was believed to be on an Emirates flight with a stopover in Dubai before heading to London.

President Omar al-Bashir earlier agreed to pardon Gibbons, putting an end to a case that has outraged Britons and Muslims around the world.

Gibbons said she did not intend to offend anyone and had the great respect for Islam.

"The president has told us he has already signed the papers for her pardon," Lord Nazir Ahmed told reporters after a meeting with al-Bashir at his presidential palace. He and Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, a fellow Muslim representative from Britain's House of Lords, had been meeting with al-Bashir to plea for Gibbons' pardon.

Sudanese presidential spokesman Mahzoub Faidul told The Associated Press that Gibbons would "be released today and will fly back to England today." However, Travel agents in Sudan said the earliest European-bound flights would not leave Khartoum until the early hours on Tuesday.

British embassy spokesman Omar Daair said "arrangements for her release are being made," but he would not more provide more details for security reasons.

In a written statement released by the presidential palace and read by Warsi to reporters, 54-year-old Gibbons said she was sorry if she caused any "distress."

"I have a great respect for the Islamic religion and would not knowingly offend anyone," Gibbons, who was convicted on Thursday, said in the statement.

"I am looking forward to seeing my family and friends, but I am very sorry that I will be unable to return to Sudan," the statement read.

In Britain, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said he was delighted by news.

He told a television crew England that her detention "was completely wrong" and in a written statement released from his office earlier he said "common sense has prevailed".

Gibbons was sentenced on Thursday to 15 days in prison and deportation for insulting Islam because she allowed her students to name a class teddy bear Muhammad, seen as a reference to Islam's most revered figure, the Prophet Muhammad.

The teacher's conviction under Sudan's Islamic Sharia law shocked Britons, and the British government has said it was working with Sudan's regime to win her release.

Gibbons escaped harsher punishment that could have included up to 40 lashes, six months in prison and a fine. Her time in jail since her arrest last Sunday counts toward the sentence.

During her trial, the weeping teacher said she had intended no harm. Her students, overwhelmingly Muslim, chose the name for the bear, and Muhammad is one of the most common names for men in the Arab world. Muslim scholars generally agree that intent is a key factor in determining if someone has violated Islamic rules against insulting the prophet.

But the case was caught up in the ideology that al-Bashir's Islamic regime has long instilled in Sudan, a mix of anti-colonialism, religious fundamentalism and a sense that the West is besieging Islam.

The case sparked harsh criticism from many Muslims in the West who said she should have never been arrested. On Monday, Inayat Bunglawala, a spokesman for the Muslim Council of Britain, welcomed the news of her pardon.

"It will be wonderful to see her back in the U.K. I am sure she will be welcomed by both Muslims and non-Muslims after her quite terrible ordeal at the hands of the Sudanese authorities," Bunglawala said.

There were also concerns for Gibbons' safety after thousands of Sudanese, many armed with clubs and swords and beating drums, burned pictures of her and demanded her execution during a rally in the capital Khartoum on Friday.

She was moved from the Omdurman women's prison to a secret location on Friday after the angry demonstrations against her, her lawyer said.

There was no overt sign that the government organized the protest, but such a rally could not have taken place without at least official assent.

[glaswolf]

If the Teddy was named Christ, and the kids played kick ball with Christ, threw Christ into the garbage and spit on Christ or gouged Christ''s Teddy Bear eyes out...etc... What would Alter Boy Zeigler have done to Little Step Daughter Riley if she were 6 or 7 and he asked her what her class did for Christ today?. She wound up in a box for not saying please, would it have been the oven if uttered such descriptive things about Christ. Now imagine what will happen to those moslem kids for the rest of their lives. Gillian lacked forethought and her transgression is unforgivable ... notice England is concerned little about what happens to the kids who now will occasionally mis-speak. Whites are of concern, but blacks are of no concern in their consciousness as I read it ... these black sundanese kids don''t even register on anglo reflective horizons. Gillian put a lifetime curse on them, the little moslem girls who mis-speak will be treated horrendously and all she thinks about is her "misnomer" ... not the pain she will induce for these children. The lack of reflection as to the consequences to these moslem children if they mispeak calls into question all forms of international crosscultural engineering or assistance utilizing low IQ folk ... Gillian obviously lacks insight, as do her supporters.

[kantsleep]

All genuine religions throughout the world should be given the respect for the comfort and ideals it gives to it''s supporters. These idiotic fanatics who twist the words of any religious belief to insight hatred and terrorism are a different story. It makes no common sense in this day and age for a bunch of maniacs to even try to twist the facts as stated in this News story. The people who are actually hurt in this whole fiasco are Gillian Gibbons and the children. What a way to teach you children.

[jasonking4]

"I have a great respect for the Islamic religion and would not knowingly offend anyone," Gibbons, who was convicted on Thursday, said in the statement.

"I am looking forward to seeing my family and friends, but I am very sorry that I will be unable to return to Sudan," the statement read.
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Is this woman insane??? Who would have respect for a religion that came close to lashing her for letting students call a bear Muhammed?? Who would respect a religion where men were marching in the streets demanding death. And why would she want to go back there????

Answer: Because she is a christian and knows the value of forgiveness.

[michellem99-2009]

I am grateful Mrs.Gibbons is free on her way home to family.

[olebd]

I wonder if the bear survived this ordeal? They probably tore it apart in front of the children.

[keithle1]

I''m pleasantly surprised. Sudan''s president knows something about goodwill gestures & international relations. I expected her head to be rolling on the sand by now.

[krazykat2525]

i am so happy she is out of there. They do not deserve to have her. She sounds like a delightful person & great teacher. I think it was a set up & folks were just looking 2 find an excuse to set up a rally for much ado about nothing.

[krazykat2525]

i am so happy she is out of there. They do not deserve to have her. She sounds like a delightful person & great teacher. I think it was a set up & folks were just looking 2 find an excuse to set up a rally for much ado about nothing.

[kansas1946]

"I have a great respect for the Islamic religion and would not knowingly offend anyone," Gibbons, who was convicted on Thursday, said in the statement.

"I am looking forward to seeing my family and friends, but I am very sorry that I will be unable to return to Sudan," the statement read.
*******************************

Is this woman insane??? Who would have respect for a religion that came close to lashing her for letting students call a bear Muhammed?? Who would respect a religion where men were marching in the streets demanding death. And why would she want to go back there????

[omded]

muhammed makes a convenient tool for inciting a riotous hatred amongst many who profess to believe in him. Of course, not all muslims believe this nonsense, but, the ones who do make all muslims look stupid. To the muslims who remember the great leader Saradin (I believe that was his name - the one who conquered the holy lands before some of the most bloody crusades and ordered his soldiers not to hurt the Christians) I salute you, and I see the greatness in your Muhammad. However, to those who see muhammad as nothing more than a tool to incite violence, I spit on your muhammad. He''s trash, and you are too. Come and get me!!!!