British teacher pardoned
Updated on 03 December 2007
British teacher Gillian Gibbons has been granted a full pardon days after she was given a 15-day jail sentence in Sudan.
Muslim peers Lord Ahmed and Baroness Sayeeda Warsi held a meeting with the Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir , where Ms Gibbons was granted a pardon following her sentence for allowing her pupils at Khartoum's private Unity High School to name a teddy bear Mohammad, a popular boy's name in Sudan as well as the name of Islam's Prophet.
Britain's ambassador to Sudan, Rosalind Marsden, described the incident as a "cultural misunderstanding".
On Sunday, Sudan's influential Council of Muslim Scholars urged the government not to pardon Gibbons, saying it would damage Khartoum's reputation with Muslims around the world.
Ms Gibbons' son John, 25, said: "I've just heard from Gordon Brown this morning. Obviously we're very pleased. We've just got to contain our excitement until she's on the plane. The family won't be 100 per cent happy until she's on the plane.
"I'd like to thank the Government for all they have done, the hard work behind the scenes, especially the two peers who went out there. Everyone's been really great.
"Obviously it's a great feeling today, we're very pleased, we have been under a lot of pressure."
Asked if he had spoken to his mother since her release, he said no but added: "I'm sure she'll be very pleased although quite embarrassed to be on the news permanently, but very pleased.
"It's been a strange old week, very stressful and particularly bad for the family but now she's coming home, fingers crossed.
"If this week has taught me anything it is that anything can happen."
