Teacher Arrested In Sudan Over A Bear Named Muhammad.

raginheart, wake up sister! this is the real world where Jesus reigns and is the one who reigns. where did you ever hear that his followers were violent because someone named something after him? allow your god fight for himself. don't get worked up. we have decided to name all teddy bears after Mohammed and aint nothing you can do about it. Jesus Reigns!!!!!

death to her praying mat

kidding

ALL THE HATERS CAN REST, NO GET HEART ATTACK

KHARTOUM, Sudan - A British teacher jailed for insulting Islam after allowing her students to name a teddy bear Muhammad was released Monday when Sudan's president pardoned her, a British Embassy spokesman said.

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The teacher, Gillian Gibbons, said she did not intend to offend anyone and had great respect for Islam.

"She is in British Embassy custody and is with the deputy British ambassador," embassy spokesman Omar Daair said. He would not give her exact location or say when she would leave Sudan.

Gibbons, 54, was sentenced 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 Prophet Muhammad. Her time in jail since her arrest Nov. 25 counted toward the sentence.

The teacher's conviction under Sudan's Islamic Sharia law shocked Britons and many Muslims worldwide. It also inflamed passions among many Sudanese, some of whom called for her execution.

Gibbons escaped harsher punishment that could have included up to 40 lashes, six months in prison and a fine.

Earlier Monday, President Omar al-Bashir pardoned Gibbons after two British Muslim politicians from the House of Lords met with him to plead for her release.

Lord Nazir Ahmed, who met with al-Bashir along with Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, said the case was an "unfortunate misunderstanding" and stressed that Britain respected Islam.

In a written statement released by the presidential palace and read by Warsi to reporters Monday, 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 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."

Ghazi Saladdin, a senior presidential adviser, said al-Bashir insisted that Gibbons had a "fair trial," but he agreed to pardon her because of the efforts by the British Muslim delegation.

It was unclear when Gibbons would leave Sudan. Earlier Monday, Sudanese presidential spokesman Mahzoub Faidul told The Associated Press that Gibbons would "fly back to England today." However, travel agents in Sudan said the first European-bound flights would not leave Khartoum until early Tuesday.

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.

The conviction shocked many Britons, 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.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said he was delighted by news.

"Common sense has prevailed," Brown said in a statement released by his office.

The case also sparked 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 pardon.

"It will be wonderful to see her back in the UK. 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 concerns for Gibbons' safety in Sudan 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 Khartoum on Friday. She was moved from the Omdurman women's prison to a secret location after the 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.

Sudan's ambassador in London, Khalid al-Mubarak, insisted Monday that the demonstrations "were an argument from the fringe."

@Olobowale or whom ever you are.

Of every body that has posted on tis thread, for and against teddy, you prove to evrione that you are an extremely dangerous character ,,I don't know how old you are bt I hope ur nt a teenager because that would spell danger for this world if u find ur way into any of them terrorist training camps in pakistan, Just hope authorities are kippin a tab on u already, because u belong in guatanamo restrain facility where in  its serenity u can get to practice a purer fom of Islam like the rest of the inmates there.

I don't understand what you hope to achieve with the insinuation in bold in your statement. But if it means what I suspect it to be then I can only conclude  that epilepsy has long been running in your family

Youngies and grafikdon don't mind these deranged folks walking around in our world.
They have also wondered into nairaland and think they can open their buccal cavity and say anything.
One nyabinghi just told us there are no armed robbers except East of the Naija,how much more deceptive can they get.

I say big kudos to all the Muslims that expressed outrage.
That is what we wanted to hear because that's what all normal  humans would say in response to useless jungle justice

The same big kudos goes for  two  Muslims on this forum specifically mukina2 and mdsocks who expressed the same outrage.
As for olabowole,halfsense,raginheart,babs and nyabinghi,you all  can pack up and move to Sudan
Your reasoning ability is just the same as theirs.
You'll fit right in,and I'll provide the gwongworo to move you up there.

Islam, the most backward and evil religion in the World. The religion of the illiterate and retards 

Islam = Evil

Even the kinky 'reverend' is complaining
where in the world  did you get that lego box picture.
That was silly.
I played with lego as a kid,now you have me all traumatized

Hmmmmmmmmmm Just like and Igbo guy was beheded for tearing a sheet out of a 'holy' quoran! What a religion of 'peace'?

Kano.

OH MY GOSH!!! in NIgeria?? What the HECK I mean what did the law do

The law? What law? Didnt alhaji olabowale and his band of islamic deliquents tell us the "law of god" was greater than the law of the land?

When I said the fanatics were the most dangerous people on the planet, I wasn't referring to beheading and decapitation, rather I was pointing out that the mind is incapable of comprehending the magnitude of malevolence and idiocy exihibited by the ArchedBarism and Beheadism cabal. The moment you try to force your mind to understand these 'prehistoric'  vagabonds, you will end up up with numerous ailments, including but not limited to cardiac arrest, brain tumor, typhoid fever, hepatitis and  acute bronchitis.