综合一区欧美国产,99国产麻豆免费精品,九九精品黄色录像,亚洲激情青青草,久久亚洲熟妇熟,中文字幕av在线播放,国产一区二区卡,九九久久国产精品,久久精品视频免费

   

British teacher arrives home from Sudan

(Agencies)
Updated: 2007-12-04 20:48

"I was very upset to think that I might have caused offense to people," she added.

Gibbons said she learned of the intense media coverage of the story on her second day in prison.

Asked if she was terrified of prison, she said: "That's an understatement."

"I was treated the same as any other Sudanese prisoner in that you were given the bare minimum," she said. "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."

What Britain and Gibbons' supporters said was a misunderstanding over the teddy bear escalated into a diplomatic flap between London and Khartoum - and the show of outrage in Sudan that puzzled many in the West.

Hard-line Muslim clerics in Sudan denounced Gibbons, saying she intentionally aimed to insult Islam. A day after her Thursday trial, several thousand Sudanese massed in central Khartoum to demand that Gibbons be executed.

"Common sense has prevailed," British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said in a statement expressing delight over Gibbons' release.

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband praised Gibbons, saying that "she's shown very good British grit in very difficult circumstances."

Gibbons, who was arrested Nov. 25, was sentenced to 15 days in prison and deportation under Sudan's Islamic Sharia law for having the teddy bear project for her class of 7-year-olds at the private Unity High School. She could have been punished with up to 40 lashes, six months in prison and a fine.

In the project, she had a student bring in a teddy bear, then asked her pupils to vote on a name for it. They chose Muhammad, a common name among Muslim men. The students took the bear home individually to write diary entries on it, which were then compiled into a book with the bear's picture on it and the title "My Name is Muhammad," school officials said.

Gibbons' defenders said the project was a common one in British schools.

The trial was sparked when a school secretary complained to the Education Ministry that Gibbons aimed to insult Islam's prophet.

The private English-language school, with elementary to high school levels, was founded by Christian groups, but 90 percent of its students are Muslim, mostly from upper-class Sudanese families.

Lord Nazir Ahmed, part of the British delegation that met with al-Bashir, said the case was an "unfortunate misunderstanding" and stressed that Britain respected Islam. He added that he hoped "the relations between our two countries will not be damaged by this incident."

Muslim scholars generally agree that intent is a key factor in determining if someone has violated Islamic rules against insulting the prophet.

   1 2   


Top World News  
Today's Top News  
Most Commented/Read Stories in 48 Hours
太保市| 沙坪坝区| 水城县| 石狮市| 乌拉特后旗| 玉树县| 新蔡县| 水城县| 阿拉善右旗| 开江县| 开鲁县| 永康市| 体育| 林芝县| 安仁县| 连州市| 东海县| 太白县| 南安市| 汉阴县| 海宁市| 土默特右旗| 平罗县| 花莲市| 仙桃市| 宜兰县| 汕尾市| 漳浦县| 冕宁县| 伊春市| 安远县| 论坛| 成都市| 于田县| 怀宁县| 玉环县| 如东县| 汪清县| 海晏县| 松潘县| 文登市|