Teacher charged in teddy bear case

[Refugee 7]

KHARTOUM, Sudan (CNN) -- A British teacher arrested in Sudan after allowing her class to name a teddy bear "Mohammed" has been charged by authorities with offending religion, British officials say.

Gillian Gibbons, 54, is being held by police in the capital Khartoum after she asked her class of seven-year-olds to come up with a name for the toy as part of a school project, Robert Boulos, the head of Unity High School told CNN.

It is expected that she will appear in court Thursday, Sudan state media reported.

A British Foreign Office spokeswoman said Gibbons had been charged under Article 125 of Sudan's constitution, the law relating to insulting religion and inciting hatred.

The spokeswoman said the Sudanese ambassador had been summoned to the offices of the British Foreign Secretary David Miliband to discuss the case. Gibbons was arrested under the country's Islamic Sharia law after parents of some of her students complained to police.

Under country's law, the offense is punishable with 40 lashes, a jail term of up to a year or a fine.

Khalid Mubarak, the media counselor at the Sudan embassy in London, said the judicial process was taking its course but added that even if Gibbons was found guilty "the question of punishment is a long way off."

"This woman is being dealt with in the proper ways in accordance with the laws of our country," he told CNN.

He said he was concerned about how the latest developments would affect Sudan's relationship with Britain.

"This is a worry for us. We have already received abusive phone calls to our offices in London," he said.

Gibbons' arrest was announced in Arabic on the state-run news agency's Web site. No-one from Sudan's government has so far commented on the decision.

It is not known how long the court process will take or the type of court the hearing will take place in.

Although there is no ban in the Koran on images of Allah or the Prophet Mohammed, likenesses are considered highly offensive by Muslims.

Gibbons had been working at the school -- popular with wealthy Sudanese and expatriates -- since August, after leaving her position as deputy head teacher at a primary school in Liverpool this summer, said Boulos.

He said Gibbons had asked the children to pick their favorite name for the new class mascot, which she was using to aid lessons about animals and their habitats.

Classmates took turns taking the teddy bear home with them, accompanied by a diary with the bear's name written in the front of it, said Boulos, who heads the private school, which has been shut down since the controversy came to light.

"All this is a very sensitive area. I asked her (Gibbons) why she had done it and she said she didn't chose the name, the children did," he told CNN.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Tuesday he was "very sorry" about Gibbons' arrest and that the British Embassy in Khartoum was "giving all appropriate consular assistance to her."

Brown said all efforts were being taken to ensure her early release and that government officials were in touch with the teacher's family in the northern British city of Liverpool.

[Pankie 0]

WTF?????

[Mary Jane 49 0]

It`s unbelievable that we should be reading this in 2007

[Echosoftom 3]

WTF????? is right! Can someone please explain to me what the BIG crime was she committed?...Surely I'm missing something here. :confused:

[agirl 0]

:eek: :013:

[surfnburn 5]

Never mind the bear.... What's she doing there?? This is the same government that has allowed genocide in their country. Jeez…they could use her for political purposes. Anyone who works abroad should have a firm understanding of the culture. She's a foreign woman in Muslim country. There’s so much cultural prejudice working against her; women are marginalized there; foreigners are assumed to be anti-Muslim. I think her first mistake was being there.

[agirl 0]

I see they convicted her and gave her 15 days in prision. Poor lady I feel so sorry for her. She was trying to do something nice. Now I hope she gets the hell outta there!

[Echosoftom 3]

And I'm sorry to say it, but that is why I'd keep my ass out of some of these countries that have some of these idiot ancient laws and still practice them. I agree Carol, I'd do my 15 days and then I'd be the f*#k outta there! :013:

[agirl 0]

It looks like they're deporting her after her 15 days. Like she would want to stay.