03 December 2007

Two Muslim British peers on a mercy mission to Sudan were scrambling on Sunday to secure the early release of a British teacher jailed a week ago for allegedly insulting the Prophet Mohammad.

Lord Nazir Ahmed and Baroness Sayeeda Warsi from the Upper House of Britain's Parliament were also hoping to meet Islamist President Omar Bashir who has the power to pardon Gillian Gibbons who was jailed for 15 days for allowing her young pupils to name a teddy bear Mohammed.

"We're still making our case for the early release of Gillian Gibbons and we're still hopeful," Warsi said, but declined to comment on whether a meeting with Bashir had been confirmed.

Ahmed and Warsi have been shuttling between ministers and officials since they arrived in Khartoum on Saturday, and described some of their meetings as "very challenging." Thousands of people demonstrated in Khartoum after prayers on Friday against what they said was a lenient sentence, with some calling for her death.

Warsi said initial concerns about Gibbons' well-being were allayed after they met her on Saturday, and described her as "in good spirits." 

"I was concerned about her safety and her security and her well-being and as I left I was satisfied on all grounds," Warsi said.

"She's doing well, she's in good spirits considering the last seven days ... She said that she has access to anything that she wants to eat. She said she had enough mineral water to have a bath in," Warsi added.

Gibbons herself had issued a statement saying she was being treated well. "I want people to know I've been well-treated, and especially that I'm well fed," she said in a statement obtained by Britain's Channel 4 News television.

"I've been given so many apples I feel I could set up my own stall. The guards are constantly asking if I have everything I need. The Sudanese people in general have been pleasant and very generous, and I've had nothing but good experiences during my four months here," she said.

"I'm really sad to leave and if I could go back to work tomorrow then I would," added Gibbons, who is due to be expelled at the end of her sentence on December 9 if the peers fail to secure a pardon.

She was jailed for allowing pupils in her class of seven- and eight-year-olds to give a teddy bear the same name as the Muslim prophet, as part of a school project. During her trial, the weeping teacher said she had intended no harm.

Her students, overwhelmingly Muslim, chose the name for the bear, and Mohammad 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.

The prospect of the mother of two, who was arrested on November 25, facing a maximum sentence of 40 lashes, six months in jail and a fine sparked outrage in Britain.

The parliamentarians met Sudanese officials on Saturday to try to resolve the situation but could not meet Bashir because of his previous engagements.

On Saturday Warsi said that Sudan's Islamist-led government "wants to resolve this matter ... Clearly they are under pressure from many quarters here in Sudan." The visit by the Muslim peers - more acceptable negotiating partners for Sudan's Islamist regime than the government of former colonial master Britain - came as Gibbons' lawyer said he hoped for a presidential pardon.

"There is a probability she will be released before the end of her sentence," Kamel Jazuli said on Saturday. "The president has the right to do this for any prisoner and I don't exclude that he will do it." 

Gibbons, from Liverpool in northwest England, is being held at a secret location after Friday's angry demonstrations in Khartoum.

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband has said the situation was due to an "innocent misunderstanding" and has twice called in Sudan's ambassador to London.

The diplomatic crisis comes at a time when Khartoum is already at odds with the West over its actions in Darfur.

Gibbons' trial took place under strict security measures in a bid to avoid protests which, as with last year's publication of caricatures of Prophet Mohammad in Denmark, have previously led to violence. - Agencies