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British team seeks release of teacher in Sudan

KHARTOUM, Sudan - Two members of the British Parliament met officials in Sudan on Saturday to try to secure the release of a British teacher imprisoned for naming a teddy bear Mohammed and later said the Khartoum government wants to resolve the case.

Baroness Sayeeda Warsi and Lord Nazir Ahmed, both Muslim members of Parliament's upper house, also visited the teacher, Gillian Gibbons, in prison for more than an hour.

"Gillian was surprisingly in good spirits, considering the last seven days," Warsi, a Conservative, told Sky News.

Warsi and Ahmed arrived in Sudan on Saturday on what the British Foreign Office called a private visit to meet with officials and seek the early release of Gibbons.

Concern for Gibbons' safety was sparked Friday after thousands of Sudanese, many armed with clubs and swords, burned pictures of her and demanded her execution during a rally in the capital, Khartoum.

Britain's Channel 4 News, meanwhile, quoted Gibbons as saying in a statement from police custody that she was being treated well.

"I'm fine. I'm well," Channel 4 quoted Gibbons as saying. "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."

Channel 4 said the statement came from Gibbons' legal team in Khartoum, but her lawyer, Kamal al-Gizouli, said he was unaware of any such statement being put out.

Gizouli said President Omar al-Bashir could inform the visiting parliamentarians that he had pardoned the teacher. "I would not be surprised if the president of the republic will tell the delegation we have dropped this charge," Gizouli said. Only the president has the power to lift Gibbons' 15-day sentence, which runs until Dec. 9, the lawyer said.

Gibbons, 54, was sentenced Thursday to 15 days in jail and deportation for insulting Islam by naming a teddy bear Mohammed - the name of Islam's prophet. The naming was part of a class project for her 7-year-old students at a private school in Sudan.

[Last modified December 2, 2007, 01:42:40]