Mary Jane 49
12-01-2007, 04:28 AM
Spitting hatred, thousands of hardline Islamists called for British teacher Gillian Gibbons to be shot yesterday.
They streamed out of mosques in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, shouting: "Kill her, kill her, kill her by firing squad."
One man brandished a giant sword, others carried axes, clubs, ceremonial swords and knives.
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http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2007/12_01/sudanswordDM3011_468x342.jpgArmed: Protesters have been demanding that Mrs Gibbons is executed
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http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2007/12_01/gillgDM3011_228x460.jpgNightmare: 'Teddy bear teacher' Gillian Gibbons
Pictures of the 54-year-old, who was sentenced to 15 days in jail for insulting Islam by letting her class call a teddy bear Mohammed, were set alight or trampled into the dirt. Today, two British Muslim peers will today begin a private bid to free her.
Lord Ahmed, a Labour peer, and Baroness Warsi, a Conservative peer, are travelling to Sudan to meet President Bashir in a bid to end the ordeal.
The protests came as devastated Mrs Gibbons was allowed to phone her family in Liverpool for the first time since her ordeal began on Sunday.
Her son John, 25, said: "One of the things my mum said was 'I don't want any resentment towards Muslim people'. She's holding up quite well."
Earlier, during a visit from her lawyer, Mrs Gibbons described how her dream of working with children in Sudan had turned into a nightmare.
"I still cannot believe this," she said, "Never in my life would I have ever thought I would be accused of deliberately insulting someone or something. I am simply not like that.
The divorced mother of two, who began working in Khartoum in August, added: "I just feel so sad. I came to Sudan looking forward to things going smoothly and safely. Now it's all over for me and I will be sent home. It has been a nightmare.
"It was my dream to come here so why should I have come and then insulted Islam?
"If I was that type of person I would have never come in the first place or I could have done that sort of thing in London or Liverpool."
Her lawyer Kamal Djizouri said he had been able to deliver fresh clothing to the detention centre where she is being held under tight security. He said the teacher was in a comfortable room with a bed, water and access to a toilet.
It was not clear when, or if, she would be moved to the squalid Omdurman prison where prosecutors said she would serve her sentence.
The teacher was said to have been in tears as she pleaded her innocence during an eight-hour trial behind closed doors on Thursday and to have been stunned by the jail sentence.
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http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2007/12_01/sudanmobDM3011_468x358.jpgFury: Thousands of Sudanese, many carrying swords, knives or sticks, rally yesterday (above and below) to demand the death sentence for Mrs Gibbons for allegedly insulting Islam
http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2007/11_04/sudanprotesters2G_468x313.jpg
http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2007/12_01/sudanmobDM3011_228x396.jpgFollower: A religious student joins the protests
There had been hopes after her conviction that she would be freed early. But officials in Khartoum suggested last night that the outpouring of emotions on the streets had made this less likely.
Protesters, who had heard hardline sermons at Friday prayers, waved banners proclaiming "Punishment, punishment, punishment", and chanted: "Shame, shame on the UK" and "No tolerance - execution."
Others yelled: "No one lives who insults the prophet."
Hundreds of police looked on but did nothing to disrupt the protest, a clear indication, observers said, that it had been condoned by the fundamentalist government.
Western journalists and observers were told to leave after demonstrators headed towards them, moving their hands across their throats in a gesture of execution.
Estimates of the size of the crowd varied, with one report suggesting several thousand had joined the protest. Many had arrived in the city in crowded cars and trucks.
Police were also on guard outside the private Unity school where Mrs Gibbons worked.
The case began with a classroom project on animals in September. Mrs Gibbons asked one of her seven-year-old pupils to bring in a teddy bear, then called on the class to name it. They chose Mohammed, the name of one of the most popular boys.
But an office assistant complained to the Ministry of Education that Mrs Gibbons had insulted the prophet by putting his name to an animal or toy.
Hardline clerics, who hold considerable influence with the government, have sought to whip up public anger, calling her action part of a Western plot to damage Islam.
The conviction of Mrs Gibbons was seen as an attempt by the government to appease hardliners while trying to avert British anger with a relatively light sentence.
She could have received up to 40 lashes, six months in prison and a fine if convicted on a more serious charge of inciting religious hatred.
Muslim organisations in Britain united in their condemnation of the verdict.
Dr Muhammad Abdul Bari, secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Britain, said Sudanese authorities had "grossly over-reacted in this sad affair".
"Gillian should never have been arrested, let alone charged and convicted of committing a crime. We hope she will be able to return home without much further delay."
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http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2007/12_01/sudanmobDM3011_468x324.jpgFlames: Fresh from Friday prayers, more demonstrators burn a newspaper carrying a picture of the British teacher
Ali Alhadithi, president of the Federation of Student Islamic Societies in the UK and Ireland, said: "We are deeply concerned that the verdict to jail a teacher, due to what's likely to be an innocent mistake, is gravely disproportionate.
"What we have here is a case of cultural misunderstandings. We hope the Sudanese authorities will take immediate action to secure a safe release for Gillian Gibbons."
The Muslim Public Affairs Committee, a political advocacy group, said the prosecution was "abominable and defies common sense".
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, said Mrs Gibbons's conviction was "an absurdly disproportionate response to what is at worst a cultural faux pas".
At the Sudanese Embassy in London, spokesman Dr Khalid Al Mubarak said they had been bombarded with angry emails and phone calls.
But he added: "If a lesson can be learned, it's that anybody going abroad should learn about the culture and orientation before taking any job."
They streamed out of mosques in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, shouting: "Kill her, kill her, kill her by firing squad."
One man brandished a giant sword, others carried axes, clubs, ceremonial swords and knives.
Scroll down for more ...
http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2007/12_01/sudanswordDM3011_468x342.jpgArmed: Protesters have been demanding that Mrs Gibbons is executed
Read more...
http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2007/12_01/gillgDM3011_228x460.jpgNightmare: 'Teddy bear teacher' Gillian Gibbons
Pictures of the 54-year-old, who was sentenced to 15 days in jail for insulting Islam by letting her class call a teddy bear Mohammed, were set alight or trampled into the dirt. Today, two British Muslim peers will today begin a private bid to free her.
Lord Ahmed, a Labour peer, and Baroness Warsi, a Conservative peer, are travelling to Sudan to meet President Bashir in a bid to end the ordeal.
The protests came as devastated Mrs Gibbons was allowed to phone her family in Liverpool for the first time since her ordeal began on Sunday.
Her son John, 25, said: "One of the things my mum said was 'I don't want any resentment towards Muslim people'. She's holding up quite well."
Earlier, during a visit from her lawyer, Mrs Gibbons described how her dream of working with children in Sudan had turned into a nightmare.
"I still cannot believe this," she said, "Never in my life would I have ever thought I would be accused of deliberately insulting someone or something. I am simply not like that.
The divorced mother of two, who began working in Khartoum in August, added: "I just feel so sad. I came to Sudan looking forward to things going smoothly and safely. Now it's all over for me and I will be sent home. It has been a nightmare.
"It was my dream to come here so why should I have come and then insulted Islam?
"If I was that type of person I would have never come in the first place or I could have done that sort of thing in London or Liverpool."
Her lawyer Kamal Djizouri said he had been able to deliver fresh clothing to the detention centre where she is being held under tight security. He said the teacher was in a comfortable room with a bed, water and access to a toilet.
It was not clear when, or if, she would be moved to the squalid Omdurman prison where prosecutors said she would serve her sentence.
The teacher was said to have been in tears as she pleaded her innocence during an eight-hour trial behind closed doors on Thursday and to have been stunned by the jail sentence.
Scroll down for more ...
http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2007/12_01/sudanmobDM3011_468x358.jpgFury: Thousands of Sudanese, many carrying swords, knives or sticks, rally yesterday (above and below) to demand the death sentence for Mrs Gibbons for allegedly insulting Islam
http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2007/11_04/sudanprotesters2G_468x313.jpg
http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2007/12_01/sudanmobDM3011_228x396.jpgFollower: A religious student joins the protests
There had been hopes after her conviction that she would be freed early. But officials in Khartoum suggested last night that the outpouring of emotions on the streets had made this less likely.
Protesters, who had heard hardline sermons at Friday prayers, waved banners proclaiming "Punishment, punishment, punishment", and chanted: "Shame, shame on the UK" and "No tolerance - execution."
Others yelled: "No one lives who insults the prophet."
Hundreds of police looked on but did nothing to disrupt the protest, a clear indication, observers said, that it had been condoned by the fundamentalist government.
Western journalists and observers were told to leave after demonstrators headed towards them, moving their hands across their throats in a gesture of execution.
Estimates of the size of the crowd varied, with one report suggesting several thousand had joined the protest. Many had arrived in the city in crowded cars and trucks.
Police were also on guard outside the private Unity school where Mrs Gibbons worked.
The case began with a classroom project on animals in September. Mrs Gibbons asked one of her seven-year-old pupils to bring in a teddy bear, then called on the class to name it. They chose Mohammed, the name of one of the most popular boys.
But an office assistant complained to the Ministry of Education that Mrs Gibbons had insulted the prophet by putting his name to an animal or toy.
Hardline clerics, who hold considerable influence with the government, have sought to whip up public anger, calling her action part of a Western plot to damage Islam.
The conviction of Mrs Gibbons was seen as an attempt by the government to appease hardliners while trying to avert British anger with a relatively light sentence.
She could have received up to 40 lashes, six months in prison and a fine if convicted on a more serious charge of inciting religious hatred.
Muslim organisations in Britain united in their condemnation of the verdict.
Dr Muhammad Abdul Bari, secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Britain, said Sudanese authorities had "grossly over-reacted in this sad affair".
"Gillian should never have been arrested, let alone charged and convicted of committing a crime. We hope she will be able to return home without much further delay."
Scroll down for more ...
http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2007/12_01/sudanmobDM3011_468x324.jpgFlames: Fresh from Friday prayers, more demonstrators burn a newspaper carrying a picture of the British teacher
Ali Alhadithi, president of the Federation of Student Islamic Societies in the UK and Ireland, said: "We are deeply concerned that the verdict to jail a teacher, due to what's likely to be an innocent mistake, is gravely disproportionate.
"What we have here is a case of cultural misunderstandings. We hope the Sudanese authorities will take immediate action to secure a safe release for Gillian Gibbons."
The Muslim Public Affairs Committee, a political advocacy group, said the prosecution was "abominable and defies common sense".
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, said Mrs Gibbons's conviction was "an absurdly disproportionate response to what is at worst a cultural faux pas".
At the Sudanese Embassy in London, spokesman Dr Khalid Al Mubarak said they had been bombarded with angry emails and phone calls.
But he added: "If a lesson can be learned, it's that anybody going abroad should learn about the culture and orientation before taking any job."