Thousands of protesters, many brandishing clubs and swords, took to the streets of Sudan’s capital Friday, demanding the execution of a British teacher who let her students name a teddy bear Muhammad.
Gillian Gibbons, 54, was found guilty Thursday of insulting Islam and sentenced to 15 days in jail. She was spared the more serious punishment of 40 lashes.
That angered many in Khartoum, who rallied in Martyrs Square outside the presidential palace. Protesters waved sticks, knives, axes and swords.
“Kill her, kill her by firing squad!” they chanted. “No tolerance, execution!”
Others shouted, “Shame, shame on the U.K.”
A cleric at Khartoum’s main Martyrs Mosque claimed Gibbons had intentionally insulted the Muslim faith.
“This an arrogant woman who came to our country, cashing her salary in dollars, teaching our children hatred of our Prophet Muhammad,” Abdul-Jalil Nazeer al-Karouri told worshippers at a Friday sermon.
“Imprisoning this lady does not satisfy the thirst of Muslims in Sudan,” he said.
Britain was working through diplomatic channels to try to free Gibbons. Foreign Secretary David Miliband summoned the Sudanese ambassador late Thursday to express Britain’s disappointment with the verdict.
Gibbons, from Liverpool in northern England, moved to Sudan in July and began teaching at the Unity School in Khartoum. She was arrested Sunday after some parents complained that she had allowed her class of 7-year-olds to name a teddy bear Muhammad.
School officials have said the students suggested names for the bear and then voted. Their choice was Muhammad - the most popular boy’s name in the Muslim world.
But while naming a child after Islam’s revered prophet is acceptable, many consider using it for an animal or toy to be insulting.
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Wow, that is about all I can say. Sometimes I read stuff that and I have to remind myself that given all her faults, America is a rather nice place to live overall.
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