Rob Crilly in Khartoum
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It began with one student and an Arabic newspaper. He raised the front page, which carried a blurred, pixellated photograph of Gillian Gibbons, above his head and launched his tirade. “In the name of Allah the most compassionate and merciful,” he shouted, “we invite all people in the world to take Islam and we need from our Government to dismiss this teacher from Sudan.” One by one members of the crowd at the Khartoum University campus began to join in, each in turn picking up the paper and shouting abuse.
If officials at the British Embassy and in the Sudanese Government had hoped that they could keep a lid on the public discontent and do a private deal to get Ms Gibbons home to Liverpool, their strategy seemed in peril.
With little public interest in the English primary school teacher and the teddy bear she had named Mohamed, Ms Gibbons’s colleagues had hoped that the matter would never reach court and that she might be freed without a fuss. Yesterday, however, Sudanese newspapers, radio and television woke to her story and Ms Gibbons was charged later with insulting Islam.
In a fiery editorial, the pro-Government Akhir Lahza (Last Moment) newspaper demanded that one of Osama bin Laden’s associates give evidence at her trial. It said that Hassan al-Turabi, once seen as the Islamic brain behind the Government and the man who invited bin Laden to live in Khartoum during the 1990s, should be called as an expert witness.
As the rhetoric was ratcheted up, fears rose of mass demonstrations against Ms Gibbons after Friday prayers. Members of a moderate Sufi sect spent the day leafleting Khartoum’s Arab market in front of the city’s Great Mosque, urging the faithful to protest. “What has been done by this infidel lady is considered a matter of contempt and an insult to Muslims’ feelings and also the pollution of children’s mentality as an attempt to wipe their identity,” the leaflet said. It called on a million people to take to the streets after prayers tomorrow.
Ms Gibbons, a former deputy head teacher from Liverpool, spent yesterday locked in a cell at a police station in a suburb of Khartoum. Her toilet is a hole in the ground; her window a small, barred opening high in the wall. She looked tired and pale as she was escorted across the courtyard with a blanket across her shoulders to meet British consular officials.
She was arrested on Sunday at Unity High School, a British-run school favoured by the Sudanese elite. Colleagues say that she was guilty only of an innocent mistake after allowing her class of six and seven-year-olds to name the class teddy bear Mohamed, after one of the most popular pupils.
Ms Gibbons’s estranged husband, Peter, said that the family were extremely upset but awaiting confirmation that they could fly to Khartoum. “She is the innnocent party in all this and would never want to cause offence to anyone,” he said, from his home in Liverpool. “Gillian is the most gentle soul you could ever wish to meet.”
Professor Eltyeb Hag Ateya, the director of the Khartoum University Peace Research Institute, said that the notion of naming a bear was alien to most Sudanese. “People are angry because the bear does not exist in Sudanese folklore,” he said. “It is not seen as a nice thing that children carry around. If you call someone a bear they will be angry, just as if you have called someone a camel in England.”
Ms Gibbon’s plight moves to Khartoum’s courts today when she is due to appear before a judge who will decide whether there is a case to answer. As the demonstration on the campus wound down, a group of young men huddled over a sheet of paper drafting an angry statement on behalf of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Elsheikh El Nour, a veterinary scientist, summed up their position. “If she made an innocent mistake and did not mean Muhammad the Prophet there is no problem,” he said, sipping sweet tea. “But if she meant Muhammad the Prophet, this is a big problem for Muslims. She must die.”
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To all the people that have said that they can now see the true Islam. Why is that? What because a misguided person has caused the arrest of this women so the whole of Islam must be wrong. So is Christianity a dirty religion becuse some of their Priests are peodophiles?? You can not judge a whole religion on a handful of people. if you want to know Islam stop looking at the Muslims and read the Quran for yourself. Stop judging Islam on what you hear and see in the media as this is exactly the game they are playing and you are the bait on there rod!!! I am not a Muslim but i am sick of people judging them on what the media decide to show. Funny how they never show the real side of islam isn't it. Why is that? Maybe because they know that its true and that scares them. Seeing another attack on the Muslims has made me realise how Islam must be the truth as why else would you haters want to try to bring it down so badly. Ok where is the nearest Mosque i am ready to get on the true path!!!
Michelle, London,
"yet again we see the true face of islam..." i've just heard that so many times its started to seem actually true... its just sad that i can not defend what the muslim mass does in the name of islam anymore. Its sad to admit that the muslim mass is deluded and without direction ; proper direction.
Islam presents a way of life... and the texts we praise.. the Quran and the hadith are not for the selected few to interpret as is happening now .. every muslim individual should take the time to understand it for his or herself. only then will we hope to someday see a group of muslims protest a reasonable cause.
if any of my muslim brother or sister reads this, i urge them to wake up, and if you feel that the seemingly dark fate of ms. gillian gibbons is unjust, voice your opinion, so that people should see that there are actually atleast two sides to every story..
Basim Qureshi, Lahore, Pakistan
Muslims often make the remark 'In the name of Allah the most compassionate and merciful'.
Well now, if they really think Allah is compassionate and merciful, then how about showing those same qualities to this poor unfortunate?
Strange how they say one thing and do another stirring up hatred, so odd for a peaceful religion, yet agin we see the true face of Islam.
When are we in the UK going to wake up?
James Brown, Swansea, UK
We should learn from our mistakes.
The teacher: what were you thinking? You know the place, the people, the culture. Big mistake!
All Occidental world: leave them alone, no invasion, no judgement but also no help, no easy immigration. Let's just buy the damned oil until we find a way to avoid that too. So that they will have no more excuses to blaim occidental world for all their problems. Either we actually were the problem (then it is solved) or they will face reality and possibly, move on.
Marco, London, UK
What a basket case of a country Sudan is. The largest country in Africa by area and ruled by a dictatorial military regime with strong links to Islamic fundamentalists. A country which has harboured Osama Bin lade in the past, which bombs its citizens in the south and encourges ethnic cleansing in Dafur. How do you deal with such a country? The only nations which deal with it are other Islamic nations and China because of its oil.
James, London, UK
Sad fact but I think George from london is absolutely right.
Nothing else to say but watch that space.
Freedom, Kent,
"In the name of Allah, the most compassionate and merciful," let us ... be merciless and punish harshly?
Debra, New York, NY, US
Once again the lunacy of extreme Islam raises its ugly head. But, once again, the voice of the moderate Muslims remains silent. Or are there no moderates, just cowards?
What is the punishment for the children who voted to name the teddy bear Mohamed?
Duncan, Ranham, England
The UK government has donated £275 million pounds to Sudan since 2004. I would therefore urge the British Government to point this out to these people and tell them in no uncertain terms that this reaction to a totally innocent mistake could lead to this funding stream ceasing.
Mick, York, Uk
âIn the name of Allah the most compassionate and merciful.."
And they're demanding punishment??? It's self-satire.
Davey Bee, Edinburgh,
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