Last updated at 09:13 03 December 2007

Thousands of Islamic fanatics wielding clubs and knives are marching through the streets of Khartoum demanding the execution of teddy bear teacher Gillian Gibbons.





As the mother-of-two started a 15-day prison term, protestors left mosques across the Sudanese capital to denounce the "lenient verdict" and call for the death penalty.

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The mob descended on Matyrs Square, which is in front of the presidential palace, many arriving in pick-up trucks with loudspeakers blaring messages condemning Miss Gibbons.

Hundreds of riot police had been deployed but they made no attempt to disrupt the rally.

"Shame, shame on the U.K.," protesters chanted," as they called for Miss Gibbons' execution, saying, "No tolerance: Execution," and "Kill her, kill her by firing squad."

Others shouted: "Those who insult the Prophet of Islam should be punished with bullets."

Many were brandishing pictures of the teacher - which some symbolically burnt.

Back in the UK, Miss Gibbon's distraught daughter Jessica had left a simple message on her mother's MySpace web page saying "I love you mum xxxxxx"

She also lists Miss Gibbon's as one of her heroes.

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The chaotic scenes in Sudan followed escalating international tensions after a judge jailed Miss Gibbons, who allowed her pupils to call a teddy bear Mohammed, yesterday.

The Archbishop of Canterbury has led mounting criticism of Sudan following her conviction for insulting Islam.

Rowan Williams launched a stinging attack on the decision, branding it "self-destructive absurdity".

He said: "I can't see any justification for this at all. I think this is an absurdly disproportionate response to what is at worst a cultural faux pas.

"I think that it has done the Sudanese government no credit whatever to allow

this prosecution to proceed.

"What I see in this situation is a sort of primitivist and crude application of

the law in a spirit of real insensitivity and self-destructive absurdity."

Mother-of-two Miss Gibbons, 54, escaped a flogging but must now endure 15 days in a notorious Sudan jail.

She will be incarcerated at the squalid Omdurman women's prison in Khartoum, which is massively overcrowded and infested with mosquitoes.

British Muslim leaders have also criticised the jail sentence.

Dr Muhammad Abdul Bari, secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Britain branded the court decision a "gross over-reaction from Sudanese authorities".

He said: "This case should have required only simple common sense to resolve. It is unfortunate that the Sudanese authorities were found wanting in this most basic of qualities.

"Gillian should never have been arrested, let alone charged and convicted

of committing a crime. We hope that Gillian will be able to return home

without much further delay."

"The sentence is a mockery of justice and we consider Gillian to be a prisoner of conscience," Mike Blakemore, of Amnesty International, added.

Malcolm Moss, a Tory member of the Commons foreign affairs committee, said: "This is disgraceful. She only named a teddy bear and she is serving 15 days in jail.

"It is tokenism by the Sudanese government. If they had really felt she had insulted Islam, they would have sentenced her to much longer. It seems they are scoring points.

"Our government dithered over intervening and this is what happens. We should have been a lot tougher, a lot sooner."

Miss Gibbons, from Liverpool, was said to be "stunned" by the sentence imposed for insulting Islam - after which she will be deported from Sudan.

Last night, her conviction and punishment were furiously condemned and the Foreign Office was criticised for not fighting her case more forcefully.

Foreign Secretary David Miliband called in the Sudanese ambassador for the second time in hours last night to protest over the verdict. He said: "We are extremely disappointed that the charges were not dismissed.

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"Our clear view is that this is an innocent misunderstanding by a dedicated teacher. Our priority now is to ensure Mrs Gibbons' welfare and wellbeing."

Mrs Gibbons's MP, Louise Ellman, said: "I do realise that the sentence could have been harder, but 15 days in a jail in Sudan could be very, very harsh.

"I think there's distress and anger and I can't see much positive that has come from this. The sentence could have been harsher, but that's not exactly a positive thing at all."

The Omdurman prison where Mrs Gibbon will be locked up was built for 200, but now houses 1,200 women and 300 children, most of the adults jailed for illegally brewing alcohol.

Last night, her son John said the family are struggling to take in the news of her punishment. "It's really difficult at the moment, my head is everywhere," the 25-year-old marketing consultant added.

"I don't want the verdict to lead to any anti feeling towards Muslims. Everyone has been very nice, but one of my fears, and I imagine my mother's also, will be that this results in any sort of resentment towards Muslim people."

He is hoping to visit his mother in jail and urged the Foreign Office to help speed up the visa process.

The Muslim Council of Britain called the sentence completely unjustified.

"I'm utterly disappointed with this decision," said the council's Ibrahim Mogra. "We have been calling on the Sudanese authorities to show leniency, that this was a case of an innocent oversight, a misunderstanding, and there was no need for this to be escalated."

The verdict came at the end of a day of drama and farce in Khartoum that saw British diplomats initially prevented from entering the court.

Defence lawyers said they would appeal. But with the Sudan authorities planning a major security operation today amid expected protests by hardline Islamic leaders urging tougher sentencing, there were fears the tactic could backfire.

British officials said they would be pressing for a reduction in sentence, and the five days Mrs Gibbons has already spent in custody might count against the 15 to be served.

The Sudanese authorities were also said to have started preparing deportation documents for this weekend, leading to speculation she could be freed as early as tomorrow.

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Ali Mohammed Ajab, a member of her defence team, described the verdict as "very unfair".

He said: "She apologised to the court - not that she had done something wrong - but said she was simply doing her job and did not mean any harm."

Sudan's top Muslim clerics had pressed their government to ensure the teacher was punished harshly, comparing her action to author Salman Rushdie's "blasphemies" against the Prophet.

Mrs Gibbons, a divorced mother-of-two, was arrested on Sunday and on Wednesday charged with insulting Islam, inciting hatred and showing contempt for religious beliefs.

It came after seven-year-old pupils chose to call a teddy bear Mohammed at the Unity High School in Khartoum, where she had worked since August.

During the court case behind closed doors yesterday it was revealed that the school's office assistant, Sara Khawad, had complained to the education authorities - leading to the teacher's arrest.

In a statement read to court, Mrs Gibbons tearfully stressed she had not meant to cause offence and pointed out that it had been her pupils who had chosen the name.

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There were four prosecution witnesses, and several spoke up for the defence.

Isam Abu Hasabu, chairman of Unity High School's parent-teacher association, said: "The whole thing boiled down to a cultural misunderstanding. In our culture, we don't know the bear as a cuddly symbol of mercy."

Other teachers said many parents had written to the school offering support.

The school's Sudanese director, Robert Boulos, described Mrs Gibbons as "a marvellous teacher", adding: "She was even training our other primary teachers and is an asset to the school.'"