Sudanese protesters demand British teacher's head over teddy bear

Sudanese protesters demand British teacher's head over teddy bearCompiled by Daily Star staff Saturday, December 01, 2007
Thousands of Sudanese, many armed with clubs and knives, protested Friday outside the presidential palace in Khartoum, demanding the execution of a British teacher convicted of insulting Islam for allowing her students to name a teddy bear "Mohammad." "Those who insult the Prophet of Islam should be punished with bullets," demonstrators shouted after Gillian Gibbons, 54, was jailed for 15 days.
The demonstrators converged in the center of the Sudanese capital from several mosques the day after a criminal court passed sentence on the woman.
The teacher could have faced a maximum sentence of 40 lashes, six months jail time and a fine.
Earlier, Sheikh Abdel-Jalil Karuri had told a crowd gathered for the Muslim day of prayer at the central Martyrs Mosque that Gibbons "did it with the intention of insulting Islam." The crowd responded with cries of "the army of Islam will prevail."
They burned pictures of Gibbons and called for her execution, chanting "No tolerance: execution," and "Kill her, kill her by firing squad." Most did not believe Gibbons' claims that she didn't mean to insult the Prophet. "It is a premeditated action and this unbeliever thinks that she can fool us?" asked Yassin Mubarak, a young dreadlocked man swathed in green and carrying a sword.
The trial itself took place behind a significant police barrier to avoid such demonstrations which have, as with last year's publication of caricatures of Prophet Mohammad in Denmark, led to violence.
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said the trial stemmed from an "innocent misunderstanding," as diplomatic contacts continued Friday "in the search for a swift resolution of this issue," the Foreign Office in London said.
British Embassy officials visited Gibbons in prison at an undisclosed location earlier Friday after she began serving her sentence. In response to the demonstrations, Gibbons was moved from the Omdurman women's prison near Khartoum to the secret location, said her chief lawyer Kamal al-Gizouli. The 15-day sentence was to run from Sunday, when she was arrested.
"The consul and the deputy ambassador visited her this morning and she was fine," an embassy spokesman said. "