Teddy row teacher latest: Sudan says case will be resolved quickly

Nov 27 2007

Hopes that a British teacher could be cleared of blasphemy charges were raised tonight after a Sudanese embassy official said the “minute” matter would be resolved very quickly.

Gillian Gibbons, 54, could be given 40 lashes or six months in jail after she let her seven-year-old pupils in Sudan name the class teddy bear Mohammed.

Ms Gibbons, who taught at Unity High School in Khartoum, was arrested on Sunday.

Dr Khalid al Mubarak, a spokesman for the Sudanese embassy in London, said the police had no choice but to follow procedure following a complaint from a parent, but added that the “minute” issue would be resolved amicably.

He said: “The police is bound to investigate just as is the case in any country in which there is rule of law.

“Our relationship with Britain is so good that we wouldn’t like such a minute event to be overblown.”

He added: “I am pretty certain that this minute incident will be clarified very quickly and this teacher who has been helping us with the teaching of children will be safe and will be cleared.”

Asked about the potential punishments of six-months jail or 40 lashes, he said: “I hope people will not give their imagination free rein to think about such things.

“That is based on the premise that a person will be charged and the person will be after that condemned and then the judgment has to be passed.

“But these are all steps ahead of us and my impression is that the whole thing could probably be settled amicably long before we reach stages like these.”

Earlier today, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said efforts were being made to release her “soon”.

“I feel very sorry about what has happened to Gillian Gibbons,” he said.

“I understand that she has not yet been charged with any offence by the authorities.

“Our embassy in Khartoum is giving all appropriate assistance to her.

“We have been in contact with, and will continue to be in contact with, the Sudanese police authorities and the Sudanese government to make sure that we can ascertain that she is safe and well and to clarify the position so that she can be released soon.”

Reports from Khartoum said Ms Gibbons, from Aigburth, Liverpool, was yesterday moved to a cell at the CID Criminal Police Exploration Bureau for further questioning and was being investigated by Sudan’s chief prosecutor.

But tonight, a spokesman for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said the mother-of-two had not been charged.

He said: “We understand that she has not been charged but the Sudanese authorities continue to investigate.

“Our top priority is the welfare of Ms Gibbons and we will be visiting her again tomorrow.”

The Muslim Council of Britain this evening joined the international clamour for her release.

Secretary general, Dr Muhammad Abdul Bari, said: “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.”

Ms Gibbons moved to Sudan after the break up of her 32-year marriage to Peter Gibbons, also a teacher.

She worked at Unity for several months and told friends she was loving her new life.

Former colleague Gill Langworthy who taught with her in Liverpool said: “Last week she sent an email with pictures of her sitting on a camel and a beach, loving it, she felt so welcomed and loved teaching the children.

“I am constantly worried, and thinking about her sitting in the prison cell is horrible.

“She will be absolutely petrified about her children John and Jessica and how they are coping and what they are thinking. She’ll be more worried about them.

“But obviously, she will be scared for her own safety.”

Miss Langworthy said her “inspirational teacher” friend would be “devastated that she has insulted and offended anyone” with “an innocent mistake”.

In Khartoum, a friend and colleague of Ms Gibbons said she was originally going to name the teddy bear after his newborn son “Faris”.

Writing as MB Jefferies on the guardian.co.uk website, he said no parents of her pupils complained.

But he said when the teacher was arrested the “police station had been surrounded by a mob baying for Gillian’s blood”.

He added that parents both Muslim and Christian were rallying to help Ms Gibbons who was told a few weeks ago that the name might cause trouble.

Mr Jefferies, a Year 6 teacher, said by that point it was too late.

“The government men then asked to see and interview Gillian,” he said.

“Gillian gave exactly the same report of her actions.

“Again, the men from the ministry found this unacceptable and demanded that Gillian present herself at the police barracks.

“On arrival at the police barracks, accompanied by the school principal, Gillian was interrogated for five hours. Gillian was then remanded to the cells.”

Mr Jefferies said the school has been closed and security increased because of fears of attacks on staff.

He said: “We are all deeply concerned for Gillian, who is not half as tough as she likes to make out.

“She is alone, effectively being held in solitary confinement.

“She does not speak Arabic and the police staff where she was held until Tuesday morning did not speak much English.”

Former Liberal leader Lord Steel tonight pledged to use a meeting with Sudan President Omar Al Bashir next week to call for Ms Gibbons’ release.

An all-party delegation from the Anglo-Arab Organisation - of which the peer is a patron - is due to arrive in the troubled country on December 3.

“It is obvious that Gillian Gibbons made a wholly innocent mistake in allowing the class teddy bear to be named Mohammed after popular boys in her class,” Lord Steel said.

“The Sudanese authorities would look ridiculous if they pursue a prosecution at a time when we are trying to improve relations with the Islamic world.

“I will personally urge President Al Bashir to release this innocent woman immediately.”