Britain was trying to defuse a potentially explosive diplomatic row with Sudan last night, after a British teacher who allowed a teddy bear to be named Mohamed was charged with insulting Islam and inciting hatred. She is due to appear in an Islamic court today. The alleged crime is punishable by 40 lashes, a six-month jail sentence and a fine.

David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, is expected to summon Omer Mohamed Ahmed Siddig, the Sudanese Ambassador to London, to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office today.

The Sudanese envoy will be told that corporal punishment against Gillian Gibbons, the 54-year-old teacher from Liverpool, is totally unacceptable. Britain is “reviewing its options” for retaliatory measures against Khartoum should Ms Gibbons be hurt. These could include the expulsion of Sudanese diplomats, tightening travel restrictions on the regime’s leading figures and cutting aid.

British diplomats said that they were determined not to allow the row to damage peace efforts in the troubled province of Darfur, where more than 20,000 United Nations peacekeeping troops are due to be deployed in the new year.

One possible compromise being explored last night would allow Ms Gibbons to go on trial. Instead of being punished, she could then be expelled from Sudan or granted a pardon by President Omar Bashir, the country’s hardline leader.

Yet with Islamic militants calling for mass demonstrations in Sudan, the situation threatened to get out of control. The mother of two spent her fourth night in jail yesterday after she was arrested at at Unity High School, an exclusive British-run school favoured by the Sudanese elite, for allowing her pupils to name a classroom teddy bear Mohamed.

British consular officials and colleagues visited Ms Gibbons in prison yesterday and reported that she was being well treated by the authorities.

Her arrest has provoked outrage among politicians, clerics and leaders of the British Muslim community, who rallied to her defence, but Islamic militants in Sudan have protested against her actions and demanded a maximum sentence for her crimes. She was arrested after some parents complained to the education authorities about the teddy bear’s name.

British officials said that they remained confident that the Sudanese authorities wanted to avoid aggravating the situation. If Ms Gibbons is flogged it would have serious diplomatic consequences for Sudan, affecting its relations with Britain, the European Union and moderate Arab states.

Key to the outcome could be the role of the British Muslim community, which has well-established links with Sudan. Dr Muhammad Abdul Bari, secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Britain, said he was “appalled” at yesterday’s decision, which he added “defied common sense”.

“There was clearly no intention on the part of the teacher to deliberately insult the Islamic faith,” said Dr Abdul Bari. “The children in Ms Gibbons’s class and their parents have all testified as to her innocence in this matter. We call upon the Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir to intervene in this case without delay to ensure that Ms Gibbons is freed from this quite shameful ordeal.”

Lord Steel of Aikwood, the former Liberal Party leader, said that he would raise the issue with Mr al-Bashir, when he meets him next week as part of an all-party mission to Sudan. “I hope the President of the country will have the authority to overrule these people and set her free,” he said.

Louise Ellman, the MP for Liverpool Riverside, Ms Gibbons’s constituency, said she was astounded by the criminal charges.

“It was hoped the matter could be resolved by diplomatic means,” she said.

— Read Jo Sugden on Islam in Sudan timesonline.co.uk/faithcentral

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