Muslims demand execution of British teacher
Calls in Sudan for execution of Briton
By MOHAMED OSMAN, Associated Press Writer 1 minute ago
KHARTOUM, Sudan - Thousands of Sudanese, many armed with clubs and knives, rallied Friday in a central square and demanded the execution of a British teacher convicted of insulting Islam for allowing her students to name a teddy bear "Muhammad."
In response to the demonstration, teacher Gillian Gibbons was moved from the women's prison near Khartoum to a secret location for her safety, her lawyer said.
The protesters streamed out of mosques after Friday sermons, as pickup trucks with loudspeakers blared messages against Gibbons, who was sentenced Thursday to 15 days in prison and deportation. She avoided the more serious punishment of 40 lashes.
They massed in central Martyrs Square outside the presidential palace, where hundreds of riot police were deployed. They did not try to stop the rally, which lasted about an hour.
"Shame, shame on the U.K.," protesters chanted.
They called for Gibbons' execution, saying, "No tolerance: Execution," and "Kill her, kill her by firing squad."
Gibbons' chief lawyer, Kamal al-Gizouli, said she was moved from the prison for her safety for the final nine days of her sentence.
"They moved this lady from the prison department to put her in other hands and in other places to cover her and wait until she completes her imprisonment period," he said, adding that she was in good health.
"They want, by hook or by crook, to complete these nine days without any difficulties, which would have an impact on their foreign relationship," he said.
Several hundred protesters, not openly carrying weapons, marched from the square to Unity High School, about a mile away, where Gibbons worked. They chanted slogans outside the school, which is closed and under heavy security, then headed toward the nearby British Embassy. They were stopped by security forces two blocks away from the embassy.
The protest arose despite vows by Sudanese security officials the day before, during Gibbons' trial, that threatened demonstrations after Friday prayers would not take place. Some of the protesters carried green banners with the name of the Society for Support of the Prophet Muhammad, a previously unknown group.
Many protesters carried clubs, knives and axes - but not automatic weapons, which some have brandished at past government-condoned demonstrations. That suggested Friday's rally was not organized by the government.
A Muslim cleric at Khartoum's main Martyrs Mosque denounced Gibbons during one sermon, saying she intentionally insulted Islam. He did not call for protests, however.
"Imprisoning this lady does not satisfy the thirst of Muslims in Sudan. But we welcome imprisonment and expulsion," the cleric, Abdul-Jalil Nazeer al-Karouri, a well-known hard-liner, told worshippers.
"This an arrogant woman who came to our country, cashing her salary in dollars, teaching our children hatred of our Prophet Muhammad," he said.
Britain, meanwhile, pursued diplomatic moves to free Gibbons. Prime Minister Gordon Brown spoke with a member of her family to convey his regret, his spokeswoman said.
"He set out his concern and the fact that we were doing all we could to secure her release," spokeswoman Emily Hands told reporters.
Most Britons expressed shock at the verdict by a court in Khartoum, alongside hope it would not raise tensions between Muslims and non-Muslims in Britain.
"One of the good things is the U.K. Muslims who've condemned the charge as completely out of proportion," said Paul Wishart, 37, a student in London.
"In the past, people have been a bit upset when different atrocities have happened and there hasn't been much voice in the U.K. Islamic population, whereas with this, they've quickly condemned it."
Muhammad Abdul Bari, secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Britain, accused the Sudanese authorities of "gross overreaction."
"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," he said.
The Muslim Public Affairs Committee, a political advocacy group, said the prosecution was "abominable and defies common sense."
The Federation of Student Islamic Societies, which represents 90,000 Muslim students in Britain and Ireland, called on Sudan's government to free Gibbons, saying she had not meant to cause offense.
"We are deeply concerned that the verdict to jail a schoolteacher due to what's likely to be an innocent mistake is gravely disproportionate," said the group's president, Ali Alhadithi.
The Ramadhan Foundation, a Muslim youth organization, said Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir should pardon the teacher.
"The Ramadhan Foundation is disappointed and horrified by the conviction of Gillian Gibbons in Sudan," said spokesman Mohammed Shafiq.
Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, spiritual leader of the world's 77 million Anglicans, said Gibbons' prosecution and conviction was "an absurdly disproportionate response to what is at worst a cultural faux pas."
Foreign Secretary David Miliband summoned the Sudanese ambassador late Thursday to express Britain's disappointment with the verdict. The Foreign Office said Britain would continue diplomatic efforts to achieve "a swift resolution" to the crisis.
Gibbons was arrested Sunday after another staff member at the school complained that she had allowed her 7-year-old students to name a teddy bear Muhammad. Giving the name of the Muslim prophet to an animal or a toy could be considered insulting.
The case put Sudan's government in an embarrassing position - facing the anger of Britain on one side and potential trouble from powerful Islamic hard-liners on the other. Many saw the 15-day sentence as an attempt to appease both sides.
In The Times, columnist Bronwen Maddox said the verdict was "something of a fudge ... designed to give a nod to British reproof but also to appease the street."
Britain's response - applying diplomatic pressure while extolling ties with Sudan and affirming respect for Islam - had produced mixed results, British commentators concluded.
In an editorial, The Daily Telegraph said Miliband "has tiptoed around the case, avoiding a threat to cut aid and asserting that respect for Islam runs deep in Britain. Given that much of the government's financial support goes to the wretched refugees in Darfur and neighboring Chad, Mr. Miliband's caution is understandable."
Now, however, the newspaper said, Britain should recall its ambassador in Khartoum and impose sanctions on the Sudanese regime.
___
Associated Press writers Jill Lawless, David Stringer and Kate Schuman in London contributed to this report.
By MOHAMED OSMAN, Associated Press Writer 1 minute ago
KHARTOUM, Sudan - Thousands of Sudanese, many armed with clubs and knives, rallied Friday in a central square and demanded the execution of a British teacher convicted of insulting Islam for allowing her students to name a teddy bear "Muhammad."
In response to the demonstration, teacher Gillian Gibbons was moved from the women's prison near Khartoum to a secret location for her safety, her lawyer said.
The protesters streamed out of mosques after Friday sermons, as pickup trucks with loudspeakers blared messages against Gibbons, who was sentenced Thursday to 15 days in prison and deportation. She avoided the more serious punishment of 40 lashes.
They massed in central Martyrs Square outside the presidential palace, where hundreds of riot police were deployed. They did not try to stop the rally, which lasted about an hour.
"Shame, shame on the U.K.," protesters chanted.
They called for Gibbons' execution, saying, "No tolerance: Execution," and "Kill her, kill her by firing squad."
Gibbons' chief lawyer, Kamal al-Gizouli, said she was moved from the prison for her safety for the final nine days of her sentence.
"They moved this lady from the prison department to put her in other hands and in other places to cover her and wait until she completes her imprisonment period," he said, adding that she was in good health.
"They want, by hook or by crook, to complete these nine days without any difficulties, which would have an impact on their foreign relationship," he said.
Several hundred protesters, not openly carrying weapons, marched from the square to Unity High School, about a mile away, where Gibbons worked. They chanted slogans outside the school, which is closed and under heavy security, then headed toward the nearby British Embassy. They were stopped by security forces two blocks away from the embassy.
The protest arose despite vows by Sudanese security officials the day before, during Gibbons' trial, that threatened demonstrations after Friday prayers would not take place. Some of the protesters carried green banners with the name of the Society for Support of the Prophet Muhammad, a previously unknown group.
Many protesters carried clubs, knives and axes - but not automatic weapons, which some have brandished at past government-condoned demonstrations. That suggested Friday's rally was not organized by the government.
A Muslim cleric at Khartoum's main Martyrs Mosque denounced Gibbons during one sermon, saying she intentionally insulted Islam. He did not call for protests, however.
"Imprisoning this lady does not satisfy the thirst of Muslims in Sudan. But we welcome imprisonment and expulsion," the cleric, Abdul-Jalil Nazeer al-Karouri, a well-known hard-liner, told worshippers.
"This an arrogant woman who came to our country, cashing her salary in dollars, teaching our children hatred of our Prophet Muhammad," he said.
Britain, meanwhile, pursued diplomatic moves to free Gibbons. Prime Minister Gordon Brown spoke with a member of her family to convey his regret, his spokeswoman said.
"He set out his concern and the fact that we were doing all we could to secure her release," spokeswoman Emily Hands told reporters.
Most Britons expressed shock at the verdict by a court in Khartoum, alongside hope it would not raise tensions between Muslims and non-Muslims in Britain.
"One of the good things is the U.K. Muslims who've condemned the charge as completely out of proportion," said Paul Wishart, 37, a student in London.
"In the past, people have been a bit upset when different atrocities have happened and there hasn't been much voice in the U.K. Islamic population, whereas with this, they've quickly condemned it."
Muhammad Abdul Bari, secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Britain, accused the Sudanese authorities of "gross overreaction."
"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," he said.
The Muslim Public Affairs Committee, a political advocacy group, said the prosecution was "abominable and defies common sense."
The Federation of Student Islamic Societies, which represents 90,000 Muslim students in Britain and Ireland, called on Sudan's government to free Gibbons, saying she had not meant to cause offense.
"We are deeply concerned that the verdict to jail a schoolteacher due to what's likely to be an innocent mistake is gravely disproportionate," said the group's president, Ali Alhadithi.
The Ramadhan Foundation, a Muslim youth organization, said Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir should pardon the teacher.
"The Ramadhan Foundation is disappointed and horrified by the conviction of Gillian Gibbons in Sudan," said spokesman Mohammed Shafiq.
Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, spiritual leader of the world's 77 million Anglicans, said Gibbons' prosecution and conviction was "an absurdly disproportionate response to what is at worst a cultural faux pas."
Foreign Secretary David Miliband summoned the Sudanese ambassador late Thursday to express Britain's disappointment with the verdict. The Foreign Office said Britain would continue diplomatic efforts to achieve "a swift resolution" to the crisis.
Gibbons was arrested Sunday after another staff member at the school complained that she had allowed her 7-year-old students to name a teddy bear Muhammad. Giving the name of the Muslim prophet to an animal or a toy could be considered insulting.
The case put Sudan's government in an embarrassing position - facing the anger of Britain on one side and potential trouble from powerful Islamic hard-liners on the other. Many saw the 15-day sentence as an attempt to appease both sides.
In The Times, columnist Bronwen Maddox said the verdict was "something of a fudge ... designed to give a nod to British reproof but also to appease the street."
Britain's response - applying diplomatic pressure while extolling ties with Sudan and affirming respect for Islam - had produced mixed results, British commentators concluded.
In an editorial, The Daily Telegraph said Miliband "has tiptoed around the case, avoiding a threat to cut aid and asserting that respect for Islam runs deep in Britain. Given that much of the government's financial support goes to the wretched refugees in Darfur and neighboring Chad, Mr. Miliband's caution is understandable."
Now, however, the newspaper said, Britain should recall its ambassador in Khartoum and impose sanctions on the Sudanese regime.
___
Associated Press writers Jill Lawless, David Stringer and Kate Schuman in London contributed to this report.
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It is a peaceful religion. 0 -
So true. I can't believe the media would print such blatant lies about the religion of peace! FOR SHAME MEDIA!!! 0 -
Yet another of the unending examples of how way too much of the Muslim world is a crazed, irrational, murderous and primitive place. A place that does not belong in the modern world.
If only we could ship all those b@$+@rds to the far side of the sun, the world would be a better place.0 -
Remind me again about this religion of peace.
1. A woman is raped and it is expected that she be punished.
2. It is right to target innocent people, many times children, because Israel is evil and infidels that do not support exterminating the Jews should be killed.
3. A teacher asks her MUSLIM class to name a teddy bear. The MUSLIM class chooses to name it Mohammud, which is NOT the name of the Islamofascists' god (it is Allah). Mohammud was the name of the religion's founder (and, incidentally, it is an utter joke to consider Islam a religion of peace when its founder was a warrior to his last day on earth), and Mohammud is the single most-common name for Muslim males. Then, to feign offense, the MUSLIMS call for the teacher's punishment, including jail, whipping, and execution.
4. I have yet to hear a Muslim group denounce terrorism.
Now, remind me again why this is the religion of peace?0 -
If the poor woman were released out onto the streets, these savages would obviously club and stab her to death.
When she lands on British soil next week, I bet she will fall to her knees, at the airport, and kiss British soil.
She will be wanting to have a talk with that friend of hers, who said, three years ago, "Say, Gillian, you speak Arabic. Why don't you go to Sudan and teach English to the children there, the pay is good, I mean, what could go wrong?"0 -
KILL EVERYBODY
Above is he solution to humankind offered my Islam. Islam can KM lilly-white AZZ.0 -
Maybe the dumb bit ch realizes now she can't save the world. Go back to England and teach some of those young misguided souls. When are people going to realize that Muslim religion is just plain eveil and you are not going to stop it, imo..nambu 0 -
timesonline.co.uk
A British schoolteacher was behind bars in an overcrowded Sudanese prison last night after being convicted of inciting religious hatred for letting her pupils name a teddy bear Mohamed.
Gillian Gibbons, 54, escaped a sentence of 40 lashes after apologising to the court for any offence she had caused. But she began serving a 15-day sentence in a women's prison where the regime is extremely harsh by Western standards.
Many Sudanese consider Omdurman's women's prison to be one of the country's more comfortable jails. It is, however, overcrowded. Many inmates are southern Sudanese women convicted of selling alcohol, and many have babies. Ms Gibbons will have to rely on wellwishers bringing her food and water.
Earlier, Ms Gibbons had arrived at Khartoum North Criminal Court looking dazed and exhausted to find a scene of pandemonium as police had to push their way through more than 100 people. Ms Gibbons's pale face registered shock at the level of interest that her case has generated.
The trial was conducted behind closed doors and at first her lawyers were barred from the courtroom. British officials had to argue strenuously to find space on the leather chairs in the neat, air-conditioned court. Press were banned from the courtroom, and three film crews were detained for filming street scenes outside the court.0 -
quote:Originally posted by mm8nambu
Maybe the dumb bit ch realizes now she can't save the world. Go back to England and teach some of those young misguided souls. When are people going to realize that Muslim religion is just plain eveil and you are not going to stop it, imo..nambu
There's the argument to be made that by educating Muslims (who are often illiterate and uneducated and simply take what their immams and other leaders say at face value as true) they can think on their own and learn that there are means other than terror to get things done.0 -
is it the religion, or the people? 0 -
A female in any muslim prison is raped.
She might have been better off taking the lashings.0 -
Im with nambu on this,islam is evil,mulims have no time for us infidels so its about time we treated them the same way.Ive seen what they have done to the UK.I can remember working in Germany way back in 1972 they were having serious problems with turkish muslims even then,they didnt want to work,wanted to live of the state,blamed the white man for everything.Well its about time we gave them something to complain about.As far as Im concerned just doing business with a muslim is supporting terroism. 0 -
Time for the Royal Marines to make a visit. I wouldn't be too concerned whether it was peaceful or otherwise, and I wouldn't be too concerned about insulting those who espouse radical Muslim.
Next move would be a housecleaning expedition where every single protester and cleric who preached death for this woman got what they preached.
And to anyone in the rest of the world that objected... They could all go straight to hell!0 -
quote:Originally posted by buschmaster
is it the religion, or the people?
It is many uneducated (ignorant) people. Followed closely by an ignorant religion that seems to take everything literally.0 -
I love this, from the timesonline.co.uk story:
"Ms Gibbons will have to rely on wellwishers bringing her food and water."
Muslim law: Infidels will be treated humanely in the Muslim prison, as long as they do not require food or water.
"The trial was conducted behind closed doors and at first her lawyers were barred from the courtroom."
Muslim law: Infidels will receive a fair trial, as long as they do not require a lawyer.0 -
interesting that this teddy bear named Muhammad is bad because it defiles the name, but how many muslim men out there named Muhammad do more to defile that name and live? 0 -
We must kill the infidels who name their children Mohamed. 0 -
I think WE should execute the teacher.
With an H-Bomb.
Doug0 -
quote:Originally posted by Doug Wilson
I think WE should execute the teacher.
With an H-Bomb.
Doug
Doug the word is avenge.0 -
OK.
Doug0 -
I demand we execute the protesters that want to execute the teacher, by firing squad, with a bunch of liberal hippies as the backstop. 0 -
She went there to educate the kids ,as they cannot do it to a good standard,teach them to laugh & encourange them not to be single minded.The charity they get from us is $$$$$$$.
all we do is give !! ITS TIME IT STOPPED.
TALK ABOUT BITE THE HAND THAT FEEDS!!
let her come home & enjoy CHRISTmas singing with the British kids, bringing a smile to there faces instead. [;)]
It was not her who,named the bear..it was the school kids !! HUH!! [xx(]
GET YA SELF HOME LASS[^]0 -
quote:Originally posted by Doug Wilson
OK.
Doug
Doug... After rethinking, If I were in her shoes I'd be praying for your solution...0 -
The minute we find-out ,or they post her death.It's time to withdraw ALL AMERICANS.See who leaves....Anyone left, 48 hrs after the last US person is gone... They get turned to GLASS!!! 0 -
don't understand why the USA treats 13th century blockheads like 21st century people...stop all foreign aid $$$ to these cavemen 0 -
quote:Originally posted by bpost1958
KILL EVERYBODY
Above is he solution to humankind offered my Islam. Islam can KM lilly-white AZZ.
That would strike a good pose for a Mecca West type statue to be placed in fron of all international airports in America.0 -
The REAL interesting thing to see will be her statements when she's released. See whether her view of the region and the people she went there to "help" changes based on this fiasco.
My guess is it'll take more than 15 days in an islamic prison to squeeze all the liberal/multi-cultural hogwash out of her head, and she'll start playing the apologist for these "poor, misunderstood, regious people", and how we shouldn't blame them because they're "oppressed"....[xx(]
Hope I'm wrong about this, but I doubt it.....[V]0 -
Many fools out there, usually left-wing liberal fools, think that if you go about with the right kind of "love" in your heart, you can walk through a den of rattlesnakes and not get bitten. Sadly, it often takes one of those fools getting bitten to bring them to reality.
As one poster said, we will see if this teacher comes to reality.0 -
Can't we just all hold hands and hum "kumbaya?" I'm sure they must feel justified wishing to shed fresh, warm human blood to honor a long-dead-demonically-possessed "prophet." What can we call these folks but MORONS and MURDERERS!?!? 0 -
how I wish HE-WHOSE-NAME-THAT-SHALL-NOT-BE-MENTIONED-UNLEES-IT-IS-TO-KISS-HIS-ASS was still here. I would positively kill for any "insight" he would have.
dollars to donuts she is a Leftist anti-war, pro-Palestinian M 00 N B A T that blames the US and the West for everything.
wonder if her opinion has changed?0
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