Sudanese police have arrested a British school teacher and accused her of insulting the Muslim prophet after allowing six-year-old pupils to name a teddy bear Mohammed, officials said on Monday.
Gillian Gibbons was arrested on Sunday after parents complained about the incident, understood to have happened a while ago at an English-language private school. She spent the night in custody but has not yet been charged.
"She was arrested yesterday by the local police and she's currently being held in a police station in Khartoum. We visited her today. She's shaken up but she's alright," said a British embassy spokesman.
"We're following up with the Sudanese authorities and also with the school who are providing her with legal representation. She's not been charged officially but there are still investigations going on," the spokesman said.
The British teacher never intended the naming of the bear to cause offence, the embassy added.
Colleagues said they hoped only that Gibbons, who taught six-year-olds at the school, would be released by Wednesday.
The headmistress of Unity High School is also British and Britons teach at various fee-paying international schools in the Sudanese capital.
Islamic Sharia law is enforced in northern Sudan and Islam is the majority religion in what is Africas biggest country, a former British colony.
Tue Nov 27, 2007 12:05 am
