British teacher jailed in Sudan leaves for Britain

A British teacher jailed in Sudan for letting her students name their teddy bear mascot Mohammed has been released. Gillian Gibbons was sentenced on Thursday to 15 days in jail for insulting Islam after which she was to be deported. British prime minister Gordon Brown, who had condemned her imprisonment saying it was “completely wrong”, said he was “delighted and relieved”.

He thanked the two British Muslim peers who had travelled to Karthoum to try to secure her release. President Omar al-Bachir issued a pardon for the teacher after a meeting with Baroness Sayeeda Warsi and Lord Nazir Ahmed. The case has inflamed passions among the Sudanese, some of whom called for her execution. Sudan applies strict Sharia law which makes it a crime to insult Islam.

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