Jailed British teacher says well treated in Sudan

December 1, 2007 (LONDON) — Gillian Gibbons, the British teacher jailed in Sudan for allowing her students to name a teddy bear Muhammad, was quoted as saying that she is being treated well by her guards and thanked the British government for acting on her behalf.

“I’m fine. I’m well,” Channel 4 News quoted her as saying in a statement the station said it had obtained from her legal team in Khartoum. “I want people to know I’ve been well treated, and especially that I’m well fed. I’ve been given so many apples I feel I could set up my own stall. The guards are constantly asking if I have everything I need.”

She thanked everyone who has supported her, and said she was especially grateful that Prime Minister Gordon Brown had taken the time to call her son in England, Channel 4 News reported Saturday.

“The Sudanese people in general have been pleasant and very generous, and I’ve had nothing but good experiences during my four months here. I’m really sad to leave, and if I could go back to work tomorrow then I would,” the statement quoted her as saying.

Gibbons, 54, was sentenced to 15 days in jail and deportation after being convicted on Thursday of insulting Islam by allowing her 7-year-old students to name a teddy bear Muhammad — the name of Islam’s prophet. But a judge acquitted her of inciting hatred and spared her the more serious punishment of 40 lashes.

In Khartoum, Gibbons’ lawyer, Kamal al-Gizouli, said he was unaware his legal team had released such a statement.

But Fiona Long, a spokeswoman for Channel 4 News, told The Associated Press that she had checked with the program’s producers and that the report was accurate.

The Channel 4 statement also was similar to one that Gibbons’ son John had made from his home in Liverpool on Friday. After speaking with his mother on the phone in Sudan, he said she was in good spirits and embarrassed by all the attention her arrest had been getting. John also quoted her as saying she hoped her case would not create any resentment against Sudan’s Muslims.

On Saturday, two Muslim members of the British Parliament’s upper chamber, the House of Lords, were in Khartoum on a mission to get Gibbons released early.

Labour Party peer Lord Nazir Ahmed and Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, a Conservative, met Sudanese officials and visited Gibbons in custody for more than an hour.

“Gillian was surprisingly in good spirits considering the last seven days,” Warsi told Sky News. She said the peers had met Sudanese officials Saturday morning and more meetings were scheduled later.

“The Sudanese government do want to resolve this matter … (we) hope we can come to an amicable resolution soon,” Warsi said.

The Foreign Office said it welcomed the trip, but stressed it was a private visit.

A spokesman said Foreign Secretary David Miliband had spoken to the acting Sudanese foreign minister Saturday to express Britain’s “very strong concern” at Gibbons’ detention.

The spokesman said the teacher had been moved from prison to “a more comfortable and secure environment” after angry demonstrations demanding her execution on Friday. He said consular staff visited Gibbons on Saturday, and she “confirmed that she was being treated well.”

British Muslim groups were united in condemning the jailing of Gibbons, who was working in Sudan as part of a long-held dream of seeing the world.

Muhammad Abdul Bari, secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Britain, accused the Sudanese authorities of “gross overreaction.”

The Federation of Student Islamic Societies, which represents 90,000 Muslim students in Britain and Ireland, called on Sudan’s government to free Gibbons, saying she had not meant to cause offense.

“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.

(AP)