Eyes shining with a mixture of elation and exhaustion, Gillian Gibbons boarded a flight leaving Sudan last night, saying that she was “glad to be halfway home”.

The British teacher, released early from a 15-day prison sentence for allowing her class to name a teddy bear Mohamed, said: “I just want to relax, I don’t want to say any more. I’m too tired.”

Ms Gibbons had been released to embassy officials within minutes of an announcement that she was to be freed on the orders of the President.

Looking tired but excited on the flight to Dubai, she chatted with an embassy security guard and the two peers who lobbied for her freedom, planning what to do on her return. A fellow business-class passenger said: “The four of them talked almost the entire time, laughing happily.”

Lord Ahmed and Baroness Warsi, the Muslim peers whose 45-minute meeting with President Bashir helped to secure her release, said that they felt honoured to have been involved. Lady Warsi, speaking on the Emirates flight from Khartoum, told The Times: “This has been a very difficult week for Gillian and she has come out of it amazingly well. We all just feel delighted and privileged in playing our part in securing her release, and we are all looking forward to getting home.”

For dinner, cabin staff provided Ms Gibbons with Arabic mezze, followed by grilled Iranian chicken kebabs. At one stage Lord Ahmed came dangerously close to joking about Mohamed and the teddy bear, but Ms Gibbons interjected: “We don’t joke about that any more.” Towards the end of the four-hour flight she pushed back her seat and tried to doze.

On arrival Ms Gibbons was taken straight to a waiting limousine with tinted windows. Cabin crew formed a protective ring to shield her from the eyes of other passengers.

She is expected to arrive in England this morning.

A small student demonstration took place outside the British Embassy in Khartoum after the announcement yesterday that she had been pardoned by President Bashir, but most of the city remained quiet.

Lord Ahmed had earlier told reporters: “As British Muslim parliamentarians, we, Baroness Warsi and myself, feel proud we have been able to secure Gillian Gibbons’s release. We hope that British aid to Sudan continues and relations between our two countries will not be damaged by this incident – in fact, this should be a way to strengthen relations.”

British diplomats have privately given warning that Ms Gibbons’s arrest may have further undermined relations between the two countries.

Ms Gibbons, 54, a former head teacher from Liverpool, had served eight days of her prison sentence after being tried on Thursday, although she escaped 40 lashes. Her class had voted to name the teddy bear Mohamed, but her colleagues always insisted that it had not been meant as an insult to Islam’s prophet.

In a statement earlier yesterday, Ms Gibbons apologised. “I have been in Sudan for only four months but I have enjoyed myself immensely. I have encountered nothing but kindness and generosity from the Sudanese people,” she said. “I have great respect for the Islamic religion and would not knowingly offend anyone. I am sorry if I caused any distress.”

Last week about 1,000 people mounted a demonstration calling for Ms Gibbons to be executed. Fears for her safety meant that she was held at a government villa rather than at a regular women’s prison. The peers flew to Khartoum on Saturday after being invited by a presidential adviser. They met officials and religious leaders and paved the way for the meeting with the President.

At times British diplomats were left in the dark about progress as the peers impressed on their Sudanese hosts that they were acting as Muslims rather than as Britons. Yesterday diplomats had to telephone journalists to find out what arrangements the peers had made for a press conference.

Ms Gibbons’s son, John, 27, was told of his mother’s release in a phone call from Gordon Brown. Asked how he and his family, including his 25-year-old sister Jessica, felt, he said: “Obviously, we are very pleased. I would like to thank the Government for all they have done; the hard work behind the scenes, especially the two peers who went out there. Obviously, it is a great feeling – we are very pleased. We have been under a lot of pressure.”

Mr Gibbons added that his mother might be hugely embarrassed by the limelight. “It has been a strange old week, very stressful and particularly bad for the family, but now she is coming home, fingers crossed. If this week has taught me anything it is that anything can happen.”

Gill Langworthy, a friend of Ms Gibbons and former colleague at Garston Primary School, said: “We are just thrilled. Gillian is one of the most open-minded people you could meet.”

One week

Monday Sudan police arrest Gillian Gibbons

Wednesday She is charged with insulting Islam, inciting hatred and showing contempt for religious beliefs

Thursday She is jailed for 15 days and ordered to be deported on her release

Friday Hundreds rally to protest over “leniency” of the sentence

Sunday Lord Ahmet and Baroness Warsi, Muslim peers, meet President Bashir to call for her release

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