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A British teacher returned to her northern English hometown Tuesday after being pardoned in Sudan for insulting Islam by allowing her students to name a teddy bear Muhammad.
Gillian Gibbons took refuge from the media in a hotel, issuing a plea for privacy — and time to consider interview requests.
Police sealed off the street in front of her son's Liverpool home as more than 40 reporters waited outside. Neighbors poked their heads out of their homes to examine the crush of satellite trucks and camera crews.
"She's had a long journey home and is thinking about events and just wants to spend some time with her family," said Richard Clein, associate director of the Bell Pottinger North public relations firm. "I think the family are surprised at the amount of interest ... we've been asked here to tell you to leave."
After traveling through the night from Sudan, Gibbons told reporters at London's Heathrow Airport that she was stunned by the swift turn of events and her eight days in jail.
"I'm just an ordinary middle-aged primary school teacher. I went out there to have an adventure, and got a bit more than I bargained for," she said. "I don't think anyone could have imagined it would snowball like this."
At her son's home, British Muslims delivered a message of support and brought a bouquet with the message: "Welcome back, Gillian."
"It was outrageous, she shouldn't have been treated that way," said Dr. Abdul Hamid. "She's been the victim of something ridiculous. We're glad she's back home and her ordeal is all over."
Gibbons' supporters have said the case started when a school secretary with a grudge, Sarah Khawad, complained to the Ministry of Education that Gibbons had insulted Islam's Prophet Muhammad. Gibbons' lawyer, Kamal al-Gizouli, and school officials said Khawad was acting out of revenge after she had an argument with the school's principal, though they could not say the cause of the argument.
No parents ever complained, school director Robert Boulos said.
However, the case escalated as Muslim clerics in Sudan sought to drum up public outrage, calling the naming of the teddy bear part of a Western plot to insult the prophet and demanding Gibbons be punished.
Gibbons, 54, was freed Monday after two Muslim members of Britain's House of Lords met with Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir. The teacher sent the president a statement saying she did not mean any offense.
"I'm very glad to be back, and I'm a little shocked about all the media attention that I've been getting. I'm looking forward to seeing my family and friends and to have a good rest, and I'm hoping that you'll give me space in order to do that," she said at Heathrow.
"It has been an ordeal, but I'd like want you to know that I was well-treated in prison and everybody was very kind to me."
Al-Bashir insisted Gibbons had a fair trial, in which she was convicted of insulting Islam's prophet and sentenced to 15 days in prison, but the president agreed to pardon her during the meeting with the British delegation, said Ghazi Saladdin, a senior presidential adviser.
Gibbons was cautious about answering questions.
When asked her feelings about the offense she was accused of, she said: "I don't think I really know enough about it to comment really. It's a very difficult area and a very delicate area."
She added, "I was very upset to think that I might have caused offense to people."
Asked if she was terrified of prison, Gibbons said, "That's an understatement."
"I was in two different prisons," she added. I never actually went to the main women's prison, thankfully. The first one I was at was just like a downtown prison — like a lockup. I was treated the same as any other Sudanese prisoner in that you were given the bare minimum.
"Then I was moved to another prison and there the Ministry of the Interior sent me a bed, which is possibly the best present I've ever had."
The trauma has not deterred Gibbons from teaching.
"I'm looking for a job, because I'm jobless, she said. "So my immediate plan is to spend Christmas with my family, and then very seriously look for employment."
Children and staff at Liverpool's Garston Church of England Primary School, where she taught for 12 years until 2000, had been praying for her safe return.
"It's been a bizarre and busy week," head teacher Rick Widdowson told The Associated Press. "Gill's safety has been paramount and now she's back home it's the first day of getting her life back on an even keel."
___
Associated Press reporter Robert Barr in London contributed to this report.
© 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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- Regions: United Kingdom , Sudan
 | Sudan President Pardons British Teacher | Associated Press | Mon Dec 3 | 13 |
| British Teacher Released in Sudan | Associated Press | Sun Dec 2 | 0 |
 | Grudge sparked teddy bear crisis - CNN.com | CNN | Mon Dec 3 | 1 |
| Bid to free Gillian | The Sun Newspaper Online | Sun Dec 2 | 1 |
| 'I still cannot believe this is happening,' says teddy bear teacher as mob bays for her blood | the Mail online | Fri Nov 30 | 2 |
- Public Discussion (25)
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{"commentId":1240859,"authorDomain":"ForestBrowne"}
Unbelievable.....and we wonder why they get so sick of us. Bush is a direct descendant of missionaries to the Middle East, and since they couldn't convert anyone we decided that schools were the best way to inculcate them into wanting to be Christians.
Geeze wonder why it didn't work,
Brought to you by "Morons in Action Corp."
Forest
{"commentId":1240859,"threadId":"184920","contentId":"1141084","authorDomain":"ForestBrowne"}
- 1 vote
#1 - Tue Dec 4, 2007 1:34 PM EST{"commentId":1241038,"authorDomain":"stupidloon"}
There is no mention of Bush in the article, nor anything about Christians, nor anything about forced conversion. Was your comment even directed towards this article, or were you just looking for room to spew hate?
{"commentId":1241038,"threadId":"184920","contentId":"1141084","authorDomain":"stupidloon"}
- 9 votes
{"commentId":1241271,"authorDomain":"nw-meyer"}
If I recall correctly the school she taught in was private, not public. And if you're looking for a reason for them to hate us then using this incident is woefully pathetic.
In further retrospect I think it's rather childish that her fellow teacher, the one that turned her in to the authorities, didn't bother to simply stop by her classroom after hours and say "You should know naming your bear like that can be offensive to Muslims, you should really change it." But hey, that would be a little flower of kindness and understanding. Instead we have jail and forced deportation because people were calling for her death.
I think it's wonderful that a Muslim group reached out and apologized to her when she returned though, I don't see nearly enough good will in the press regarding non-extremist Muslims. It's not a burden all Muslims should have to carry, but not putting a better collective face forward in an age of extremist terrorism just lets the media paint it all very poorly without a rebuttal.
{"commentId":1241271,"threadId":"184920","contentId":"1141084","authorDomain":"nw-meyer"}
- 5 votes
{"commentId":1241686,"authorDomain":"ForestBrowne"}
It would profit us all to consider how this has been packaged to us, and more importantly understand why such articles would come out with little or no explanation of the gray areas here.
Why and at what time did this article come out, was it really so egregious as everyone has been led to believe. In Iraq women and children are killed daily, in this instance a teacher has been given the death penalty for naming a teddy bear after a prophet. Wow how mind bending, and the fact that she was pardoned and allowed to go home sets the real tone for the seriousness of this article unless it has other aims and asperations.
I'll leave it to you to bend your mind around it.
Forest
{"commentId":1241686,"threadId":"184920","contentId":"1141084","authorDomain":"ForestBrowne"}
- 1 vote
{"commentId":1241727,"authorDomain":"krishna109"}
Why and at what time did this article come out, was it really so egregious as everyone has been led to believe. In Iraq women and children are killed daily,
Well-- lots of women and children are being killed daily in the Sudan as well-- but then I don't suppose you really wat to to discuss that-- as it doesn't fit in with your biased agenda.
{"commentId":1241727,"threadId":"184920","contentId":"1141084","authorDomain":"krishna109"}
- 4 votes
{"commentId":1241785,"authorDomain":"eddiefrench"}
in this instance a teacher has been given the death penalty for naming a teddy bear after a prophet.
When did that happen?
You know, if you really want to troll, you should read the news.
Just in case you haven't got it yet; Gillian Gibbons was given 15 days in a Khartoum jail.
Were you just wishful thinking?
{"commentId":1241785,"threadId":"184920","contentId":"1141084","authorDomain":"eddiefrench"}
- 3 votes
{"commentId":1242188,"authorDomain":"ForestBrowne"}
Well I happen to know a little about the Sudan, can you explain essentially what's going on there, aside from the historical perspective, which half are you referring to? Is it the political controlling Muslim northern half, or the oil rich southern half with over 180 dialects.
Before you accuse someone of not knowing about the Sudan perhaps you should read up on it yourself. Thanks for taking the low road.
Forest
{"commentId":1242188,"threadId":"184920","contentId":"1141084","authorDomain":"ForestBrowne"}
- 1 vote
{"commentId":1241224,"authorDomain":"ballew74"}
Thank goodness for her getting to come home, she never should have jailed in the first place. People need to quit taking themselves so seriously.
{"commentId":1241224,"threadId":"184920","contentId":"1141084","authorDomain":"ballew74"}
- 6 votes
#2 - Tue Dec 4, 2007 3:12 PM EST{"commentId":1241235,"authorDomain":"JoTigerlily"}
Yes, I am thankful that she is home. What a harrowing experience arising from something so trivial.
{"commentId":1241235,"threadId":"184920","contentId":"1141084","authorDomain":"JoTigerlily"}
- 3 votes
#3 - Tue Dec 4, 2007 3:14 PM EST{"commentId":1241320,"authorDomain":"garbage11"}
{"commentId":1241328,"authorDomain":"eddiefrench"}
Gillian Gibbons is from my Home Town. She is typical of the dedicated teaching profession, whose numbers include many just like her. During her interview on Sky news this morning she came across as a caring teacher, innocent of any malicious intent. In fact, she is just like many primary school teachers that I know from around the Merseyside area. If anybody thought that such a person had the personality and character to do what they accused her of doing in the Sudan, then it is they who are the sicko's.
Her statement was gracious and forgiving, containing nothing except good words for the country which had wronged her. Hatemongers take a lesson here!
{"commentId":1241328,"threadId":"184920","contentId":"1141084","authorDomain":"eddiefrench"}
- 6 votes
#5 - Tue Dec 4, 2007 3:40 PM EST{"commentId":1241332,"authorDomain":"mark"}
{"commentId":1241353,"authorDomain":"witchofthenorth"}
"Looking for an adventure" - teaching in Africa. Oh dear, oh dear. I would think it's a pretty big oversight on the part of whoever sent her that they don't brief their teachers on the culture and how to avoid causing a major offense.
A pamphlet of do's and don'ts?
{"commentId":1241353,"threadId":"184920","contentId":"1141084","authorDomain":"witchofthenorth"}
- 1 vote
#7 - Tue Dec 4, 2007 3:48 PM EST{"commentId":1241402,"authorDomain":"jamesmirick"}
Among other things, I would think Teddy bears are probably suspect by the orthodox, because they are a representation, and Islam is very down on representations of things as verging on idolatry. And to name one "Mohammad" would be tantamount to making an idol of the Prophet, which to a Muslim is a grave sin.
Why anyone would want to go to a place like the Sudan is beyond me, anyway. It's just intrinsically unsafe, especially to a westerner!
{"commentId":1241402,"threadId":"184920","contentId":"1141084","authorDomain":"jamesmirick"}
- 4 votes
{"commentId":1241434,"authorDomain":"JoTigerlily"}
Yes, never mind that the teddy bear was brought in by one of the children. And I guess even the parents of those children didn't realize how serious the offense was, as none complained and all seemed happy with the teacher.
If a pamphlet could be written, this breach would now have to be included. (Be careful how you name teddy bears!) But be sure to leave plenty of blank space in the pamphlet for the next "transgression."
A little tolerance, with some helpful explanations if needed, could go a long way in cases like this.
{"commentId":1241434,"threadId":"184920","contentId":"1141084","authorDomain":"JoTigerlily"}
- 3 votes
{"commentId":1241466,"authorDomain":"jamesmirick"}
we are told over and over again that we have to be tolerant of others' beliefs
Yes, it should be reciprocal, but it isn't. The reason it isn't is that for most of the 3rd-world people we (broadly: westerners) have to deal with in these situations are people who probably haven't been 15 miles from their birthplace, and whose loyalty goes only as far as their family and tribe, and who have never seen another person who is a non-Muslim in the flesh. Even "educated" ones can be surprisingly provincial in this way.
They see us on TV, maybe, and look with the same eyes we see giraffes with -- we see but we just wonder at them. They're pretty easy to whip up by some demagogue. Certainly, not all people in the 3rd world are like this, but enough of them are, and in the current geo-religious-political environment, whole lots of Muslims are.
I say this with considerable travel experience in the middle east, Africa, and the Pacific.
{"commentId":1241466,"threadId":"184920","contentId":"1141084","authorDomain":"jamesmirick"}
- 5 votes
{"commentId":1241483,"authorDomain":"krishna109"}
Why anyone would want to go to a place like the Sudan is beyond me, anyway. It's just intrinsically unsafe, especially to a westerner!
It does seem like a really nasty place.
{"commentId":1241483,"threadId":"184920","contentId":"1141084","authorDomain":"krishna109"}
- 2 votes
{"commentId":1241447,"authorDomain":"eddiefrench"}
Among other things, I would think Teddy bears are probably suspect by the orthodox, because they are a representation, and Islam is very down on representations of things as verging on idolatry. And to name one "Mohammad" would be tantamount to making an idol of the Prophet, which to a Muslim is a grave sin.
So serious!
I suppose that not one of the children's father's was named Muhammad. What do you think?
Everybody has bought into the theory that the Teddy was named after the prophet. What about that other fact that Muhammad is as common a name in Islam as John is in Christendom.
{"commentId":1241447,"threadId":"184920","contentId":"1141084","authorDomain":"eddiefrench"}
- 5 votes
#8 - Tue Dec 4, 2007 4:18 PM EST{"commentId":1241478,"authorDomain":"jamesmirick"}
Absolutely correct, the whole thing was whipped up by somebody for who-knows what reason, she and the Teddy bear were just pawns.
{"commentId":1241478,"threadId":"184920","contentId":"1141084","authorDomain":"jamesmirick"}
- 3 votes
{"commentId":1241484,"authorDomain":"witchofthenorth"}
Ah yes the old - "not THAT Mohammed" defense. You should have been her lawyer Eddie! :-)
{"commentId":1241484,"threadId":"184920","contentId":"1141084","authorDomain":"witchofthenorth"}
- 1 vote
{"commentId":1241489,"authorDomain":"krishna109"}
Absolutely correct, the whole thing was whipped up by somebody for who-knows what reason, she and the Teddy bear were just pawns.
In many ways it was similar to the Mohammed Cartoon crisis- which never would've happened had not Islamic extremists incited their followers.
{"commentId":1241489,"threadId":"184920","contentId":"1141084","authorDomain":"krishna109"}
- 3 votes
{"commentId":1241517,"authorDomain":"eddiefrench"}
A step further:
Given that Muhammad is a common name throughout Islam, and Islam abhors Idolatry. Given also that Gillian Gibbons name the teddy 'Muhammad' and not 'The Prophet' or 'Muhammad the Prophet'. Surely the person who made the connection between - Muhammad the Teddy and Muhammad the Prophet, and then reported the teacher to the interior ministry, is the one guilty of idolatry and therefore the one who insulted the prophet.
{"commentId":1241517,"threadId":"184920","contentId":"1141084","authorDomain":"eddiefrench"}
- 2 votes
{"commentId":1241553,"authorDomain":"ytmnd"}
{"commentId":1241597,"authorDomain":"eddiefrench"}
Uh uh, I feel a fatwa coming on.
{"commentId":1241597,"threadId":"184920","contentId":"1141084","authorDomain":"eddiefrench"}
{"commentId":1241607,"authorDomain":"eddiefrench"}
Ah yes the old - "not THAT Mohammed" defense. You should have been her lawyer Eddie! :-)
How many children would want to name a class mascot after the most important figure in their life here in the west?
{"commentId":1241607,"threadId":"184920","contentId":"1141084","authorDomain":"eddiefrench"}
- 1 vote
#9 - Tue Dec 4, 2007 4:59 PM EST{"commentId":1242220,"authorDomain":"witchofthenorth"}
You mean curious George ? :-D
{"commentId":1242220,"threadId":"184920","contentId":"1141084","authorDomain":"witchofthenorth"}
- 1 vote
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