Sudan teacher 'holding up well' as diplomatic efforts continue
The British teacher sentenced to prison in Sudan for allowing her pupils to name a teddy bear Mohammed is doing well in prison, according to her son.
Gillian Gibbons' son John told AP that he had a conversation with his mother earlier.
"One of the things my mum said today was that: 'I don't want any resentment towards Muslim people'," he said, adding: "She's holding up quite well."
Britain pursued diplomatic moves today to free Ms Gibbons, 54, who has received a 15-day sentence for insulting Islam, but a judge acquitted her of inciting hatred and spared her the more serious punishment of 40 lashes.
The Foreign Office said consular staff had visited Mrs Gibbons in prison today, and she was in good health.
A spokeswoman said British officials were pursuing diplomatic contacts "both in London and in Khartoum and we continue to search for a swift resolution".
Officials said Muslim Labour peer, Lord Ahmed, would travel to Sudan to try to secure Gibbons' release. The Foreign Office said the trip was a private initiative.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown spoke with a member of Mrs Gibbons' family to convey his regret, his spokeswoman said.
"He set out his concern and the fact that we were doing all we could to secure her release," spokeswoman Emily Hands told reporters.
Many in Britain expressed shock at the verdict by a court in Khartoum, alongside hope it would not raise tensions between Muslims and non-Muslims in Britain.
"One of the good things is the UK Muslims who've condemned the charge as completely out of proportion," said Paul Wishart, 37, a student in London.
"In the past, people have been a bit upset when different atrocities have happened and there hasn't been much voice in the UK Islamic population, whereas with this, they've quickly condemned it."
Muhammad Abdul Bari, secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Britain, accused the Sudanese authorities of "gross overreaction".
"This case should have required only simple common sense to resolve. It is unfortunate that the Sudanese authorities were found wanting in this most basic of qualities," he said.
The Muslim Public Affairs Committee, a political advocacy group, said the prosecution was "abominable and defies common sense".
The Federation of Student Islamic Societies, which represents 90,000 Muslim students in Britain and Ireland, called on Sudan's government to free Mrs Gibbons, saying she had not meant to cause offence.
"We are deeply concerned that the verdict to jail a schoolteacher due to what's likely to be an innocent mistake is gravely disproportionate," said the group's president, Ali Alhadithi.
The Ramadhan Foundation, a Muslim youth organisation, said Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir should pardon the teacher.
"The Ramadhan Foundation is disappointed and horrified by the conviction of Gillian Gibbons in Sudan," said spokesman Mohammed Shafiq.
Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, spiritual leader of the world's 77 million Anglicans, said Mrs Gibbons' prosecution and conviction was "an absurdly disproportionate response to what is at worst a cultural faux pas."
Foreign Secretary David Miliband summoned the Sudanese ambassador late last night to express Britain's disappointment with the verdict.
Gibbons was arrested last Sunday after another staff member at the Unity High School in Khartoum complained that she had allowed her seven-year-old students to name a teddy bear Muhammad. Giving the name of the Muslim prophet to an animal or a toy could be considered insulting.
The case put Sudan's government in an embarrassing position - facing the anger of Britain on one side and potential trouble from powerful Islamic hard-liners on the other. Many saw Mrs Gibbons' 15-day sentence as an attempt to appease both sides.
Thousands of protesters, many carrying clubs and knives, marched through Khartoum Friday demanding Mrs Gibbons' death.
In The Times newspaper, columnist Bronwen Maddox said the verdict was "something of a fudge ... designed to give a nod to British reproof but also to appease the street."
Britain's response - applying diplomatic pressure while extolling ties with Sudan and affirming respect for Islam - had produced mixed results, British commentators concluded.
In an editorial, The Daily Telegraph newspaper said Mr Miliband "has tiptoed around the case, avoiding a threat to cut aid and asserting that respect for Islam runs deep in Britain. Given that much of the government's financial support goes to the wretched refugees in Darfur and neighbouring Chad, Mr Miliband's caution is understandable."
Now, however, the newspaper said, Britain should recall its ambassador in Khartoum and impose sanctions on the Sudanese regime.
