History > 2007 > UK > International (II)

Dave Brown

political cartoon

The Independent        29.12.2007

US president George W. Bush as Death sits on Pakistan.

Background: Benazir Bhutto assassination (December 27, 2007)

Leading article:

The stakes are too high for Pakistan

to veer off the road to democracy

Published: 29 December 2007
The Independent

Whether al-Qa'ida was responsible for the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, the intentions of those behind this murder are hardly difficult to discern: to destabilise further the Pakistani state; to push Pakistan out of the American orbit; to force the political parties and the Musharraf government to turn inwards and against one another; and, as a result of all that, to see the parliamentary elections planned for 8 January deferred indefinitely.

The violence has already begun, and figures such as Imran Khan are openly asking why President Musharraf hadn't ensured Ms Bhutto's safety. He might have done more – it is always possible to do so – but the frequency and determination of the attacks on her meant her life was always going to be in peril. She was, as has been noted many times now, a brave woman. General Musharraf and the military have made little secret of their partiality for the Pakistan Muslim League; they ought not have done so, and it was a manoeuvre that has backfired rather badly.

Longer term, the prize – for Ms Bhutto's murderers – must be to see Pakistan slowly turn into a backward, fundamentalist regime modelled on the Taliban's insane, cruel rule in Afghanistan – only this time a nuclear state occupying a still more vital strategic position. Perennial tensions with India and proximity to yet another nuclear power, China, are no doubt also viewed by the terrorists as full of potential for troublemaking.

Were Pakistan, long an American ally, and her weaponry to fall into the wrong hands, it would be the ultimate mark of failure of George Bush's foreign policy, and without question one of the greatest foreign policy reverses for the United States since the end of the Second World War. It is difficult, for example, to see the "loss" of Cuba, Vietnam or even Iraq in the same league as the collapse of Pakistan into a hostile, fractured, failed state. The stakes, for the West almost as much as Pakistan, could scarcely be higher.

Of all those grim possibilities, the most pressing to deal with is the timing of the general election. Given the trauma that has befallen Pakistan and the grievous blow to Ms Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP), it would be understandable if the elections were called off, allowing the nation's wounds to begin to heal and the PPP to select a new leadership.

A postponement of a few weeks would not offer the terrorists a huge victory in real terms. It is perfectly possible, for example, that the PPP would be even more likely to win power and begin the difficult task of rebuilding the integrity of Pakistan. The heirs of Bhutto, while lacking her charisma and appeal, would pursue the same policies, and an approach that offers the best hope for Pakistan's future, no matter when the election happens.

However, the case for going ahead on 8 January is a powerful one. It lies, in truth, mostly in its symbolism, but against the evil symbolism of this murder, such things matter. It is obviously not the ideal backdrop, but the test of democracy is how resilient it proves when events threaten it most.

To postpone the election would make the democrats in Pakistan look as though they were running scared, and offer the terrorists an additional incentive to step up their campaign of violence to see successive elections disrupted and postponed. Pakistan has waited long enough to go to the polls; when the mourning is over, she must face the future.

Leading article:
The stakes are too high for Pakistan to veer off the road to democracy?,
I, 29.12.2007, http://comment.independent.co.uk/leading_articles/article3291557.ece

5.45pm GMT update

Teddy row teacher on her way home


Monday December 3, 2007
Guardian Unlimited
Robert Booth in Khartoum, Mark Tran and agencies

Gillian Gibbons, the British teacher jailed for allowing her pupils to name a teddy bear Muhammad, left Sudan tonight hours after receiving a presidential pardon.

The two British Muslim peers, Lord Nazir Ahmed and Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, who secured her release after meeting Omar Hassan al-Bashir, Sudan's president, accompanied her amid tight security.

This morning, Gibbons was handed over to the British embassy after more than a week in custody, ending what threatened to turn into a full-scale diplomatic row between Britain and Sudan.

Just after 5pm GMT, a British embassy spokesman said Gibbons had left Sudan on a flight home.

Reacting to his first piece of good news in weeks, Gordon Brown said that "common sense" had prevailed in the dispute.

"I was delighted and relieved to hear the news that Gillian Gibbons is to be freed," the prime minister said in a statement.

"She will be released into the care of our embassy in Khartoum after what must have been a difficult ordeal."

He added: "Through the course of Ms Gibbons's detention I was glad to see Muslim groups across the UK express strong support for her case.

"I applaud the particular efforts of Lord Ahmed and Baroness Warsi in securing her freedom. I am also grateful to our officials for all their work behind the scenes."

The foreign secretary, David Miliband, praised Gibbons's fortitude and described the successful campaign to free her as a "team effort".

Miliband, who spoke to Gibbons, 54, this afternoon, told reporters: "She has shown very good British grit in very difficult circumstances but I know that the most important thing for her is to get home as soon as possible and return to her family."

In a statement, Gibbons said she was "fine" and thanked those who had worked to win her release.

"I have been in Sudan for over four months but I have enjoyed myself immensely," she said. "I have encountered nothing but kindness from the Sudanese people. I have great respect for the Islamic religion and would not knowingly offend anyone and I'm sorry if I have caused any distress."

Warsi read out the statement after meeting the Sudanese president. In it Gibbons paid tribute to her pupils and said she would miss them terribly. "I am sad to think they have been distressed by this incident," she said.

Her son, John Gibbons, 25, said: "Obviously we're very pleased. We've just got to contain our excitement 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."

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.

"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."

When asked what the key factor was in securing the teacher's release, Ahmed said: "As British Muslim parliamentarians we had better understanding."

A Sudanese government spokesman said he hoped the decision to release Gibbons would improve relations between Britain and Sudan.

But he said: "There was a political risk in this decision. Although the pardon is a presidential prerogative, because of the rising feeling and tensions that have been generated many Sudanese will see it as unfair to them and that it might encourage others to do the same. "The president considered the intentions behind [her] actions when he made this decision [to pardon]."

Gibbons's pardon prompted a small protest outside the British embassy, which ended peacefully.

Reacting to the pardon, Khalid al-Mubarak, of the Sudanese embassy in London, said: "Congratulations. I am overjoyed. She is a teacher who went to teach our children English and she has helped a great deal and I am very grateful. What has happened was a cultural misunderstanding, a minor one, and I hope she, her family and the British people won't be affected by what happened."

In Dundee, Scotland, however, police said they were investigating racially motivated vandalism linked to the Gibbons case.

Three vehicles in Dundee had the words "teddy bear" scratched on them, Tayside police said. The victims are believed to be of Asian origin and run an Indian restaurant in the city.

Gibbons was arrested last Sunday over a classroom exercise in September in which she allowed seven-year-old pupils to name a teddy bear. A school assistant complained after the pupils chose the name Muhammad.

Gibbons was jailed for 15 days on Thursday. She was held at an undisclosed location in Khartoum for her own safety after angry protesters gathered on Friday, many of whom called for her to be executed.

Massing in Martyrs Square some chanted: "Shame, shame on the UK", "No tolerance: execution", and "Kill her, kill her by firing squad." Mubarak played down Friday's protests, saying: "The demonstrations were an argument from the fringe. I hope for the best relationship with Britain in the months ahead."

In Liverpool, Gibbons's former teaching colleagues said they were thrilled by her release.

Rick Widdowson, headteacher of Garston primary school, where Gibbons worked for 12 years, said: "Everyone is very relieved and very pleased.

"We feel it should never have come to this but it's a good ending.

"One or two of the staff see Gill socially and I am sure they will be meeting up to celebrate with her."

    Teddy row teacher on her way home, G, 3.12.2007, http://www.guardian.co.uk/sudan/story/0,,2221020,00.html

Calls in Sudan

for Execution of British Teacher

December 1, 2007
The New York Times
By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN

NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov. 30 — Hundreds of demonstrators in Khartoum, Sudan’s capital, poured into the streets on Friday demanding the execution of a British teacher who was convicted of insulting Islam because her class of 7-year-olds named a teddy bear Muhammad.

The protesters, some carrying swords, screamed, “Shame, shame on the U.K.!” and “Kill her, kill her by firing squad.” They were calling for the death of Gillian Gibbons, the teacher who was sentenced on Thursday to 15 days in jail. Under Sudanese law, she could have spent 6 months behind bars and received 40 lashes.

Despite the display of outrage, witnesses said that many of the protesters were government employees who had been ordered to demonstrate, and that aside from a large gathering outside the presidential palace, most of Khartoum was quiet. Imams across the city did bring up the controversial case in sermons after Friday Prayers. But few called for violence.

“This woman gave an idol the name of Muhammad, which is not acceptable,” said Ahmed Muhammad, the imam at a mosque in Khartoum 2, an upscale section of town. But, he added, the proper response was more nuanced: “We have to first respect ourselves and then others will respect us.”

In Islam, insulting the Prophet Muhammad is a grave offense and worshiping idols is prohibited. British officials said they were pressing the Sudanese authorities to let Ms. Gibbons, 54, out of jail early, and they played down the protests. “The protesters went right past the embassy, but it was kept under control,” said Omar Daair, spokesman for the British Embassy in Khartoum. “There was lots of police and security.”

Mr. Daair said that British officials visited Ms. Gibbons in jail on Friday morning and that “she’s fine.”

The teddy bear incident goes back to September when Ms. Gibbons, who taught at one of Sudan’s most exclusive private schools, began a project on animals and asked her class to suggest a name for a teddy bear. The class voted resoundingly for Muhammad, one of the most common names in the Muslim world.

As part of the exercise, Ms. Gibbons told her students to take the bear home, photograph it and write a diary entry about it. The entries were collected in a book called “My Name Is Muhammad.” Most of her students were Muslim children from wealthy Sudanese families.

The government said that when some parents saw the book, they complained to the authorities. On Sunday, Ms. Gibbons was arrested. Several Muslim clerics in Sudan called for her to be whipped, while British diplomats said the whole incident was an innocent mistake and that she should be cleared.

Ms. Gibbons went to trial on Thursday, and after an all-day proceeding, the judge seemed to reach for a compromise by finding her guilty of insulting Islam but handing her a relatively light sentence. The government said she would be deported as soon as she was released.

It seems that Ms. Gibbons and the teddy bear got sucked into the larger struggle between the Sudanese government, which routinely accuses its Western critics of being anti-Islamic, and European and American officials pressing for an end to the crisis in Darfur.

Earlier this month, Sudanese officials said that peacekeepers from Scandinavia could not serve in Darfur, the troubled region of western Sudan, because of what happened two years ago, when several Scandinavian newspapers published controversial cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad.

United Nations officials have said that the Sudanese government was simply looking for ways to block or delay the deployment of an expanded peacekeeping force to Darfur. This week, United Nations officials said that unless the Sudanese government starts cooperating, the expanded mission may not be possible.

    Calls in Sudan for Execution of British Teacher, NYT, 1.12.2007, http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/01/world/africa/01sudan.html?hp

7pm GMT update

'Blasphemy' teacher found guilty

Thursday November 29, 2007
Guardian Unlimited
David Batty and agencies

A British primary school teacher was jailed for 15 days tonight by a Sudanese court after being convicted of inciting religious hatred for allowing children in her class to name a teddy bear Muhammad.

Gillian Gibbons, 54, from Liverpool, will be jailed and then deported from the country after being found guilty, one of her defence lawyers said.

"The judge found Gillian Gibbons guilty and sentenced her to 15 days jail and deportation," said Ali Mohammed Hajab.

The foreign secretary immediately summoned the Sudanese ambassador for an explanation.

"We are extremely disappointed with the sentence and foreign secretary David Miliband has summoned the Sudanese ambassador to explain what has happened," a Foreign office spokeswoman said.

Gibbons has been held by police in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, since Sunday, accused of insulting the prophet Muhammad.

The foreign secretary, David Miliband, who met the Sudanese ambassador, Omer Mohamed Ahmed, in London today to discuss Gibbons's case, said British diplomats would "do everything" to avoid Gibbons being given 40 lashes, one possible sentence.

He said: "The Sudanese legal system has to take its course but common sense has to prevail.

"It's not about disrespect for Sudan, it's about being absolutely clear this is an innocent misunderstanding."

Miliband said that, despite tensions over the Darfur region, there was no "political dispute" over the case.

"This was a person making a contribution to Sudanese society."

Before the verdict, the Sudanese prosecutor general, Salah Eddin Abu Zaid, said he had met Gibbons yesterday and that "the lady was fine". She had been provided with a team of lawyers and translators as well as a bed and mattress in her cell, he said.

A spokesman for the prime minister, Gordon Brown, said the government would consider what further steps might be necessary in the light of the meeting with the ambassador today.

He said: "We need to understand the rationale for why Mrs Gibbons has been charged and get a clearer understanding of what the circumstances are ... before we move to the next stage." Full consular assistance would continue to be made available, he said.

Despite Gibbons's colleagues insisting she had made an innocent mistake, Sudan's deputy justice minister confirmed yesterday that she had been charged.

"The investigation has been completed and the Briton Gillian was charged under article 125 of the penal code," said Abdel Daim Zamrawi, speaking to the official Sudan news agency in Khartoum.

"The punishment for this is jail, a fine and lashes. It is up to the judge to determine the sentence," he said.

Several British Islamic organisations today voiced support for Gibbons. Muhammad Abdul Bari, secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, said the decision to charge the teacher was "a disgraceful decision" that "defies common sense".

"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, Umar al-Bashir, to intervene in this case without delay to ensure Ms Gibbons is freed from this quite shameful ordeal."

Khalid al-Mubarak, a spokesman for the Sudanese embassy in London, said today it was "unlikely" Gibbons would be convicted.

She had one of the best solicitors in Sudan - Tijani al-Karib - and could appeal if found guilty, he said.

Mubarak said naming the teddy bear Muhammad seemed to have been an "honest mistake". He told BBC Breakfast News: "It should have been discussed at school level but there was a complaint from some irate parents who pressed the case and it went to the ministry of education."

Asked if he thought Gibbons would be able to return to Britain soon, he said: "This is my hope and my prayer."

A British embassy spokesman, Omar Daair, said the school had provided Gibbons's legal defence and translators.

The home secretary, Jacqui Smith, told GMTV: "We are pretty shocked and surprised about the way the Sudanese have behaved in these circumstances. That's why David Miliband, the foreign secretary, has urgently demanded to meet the Sudanese ambassador so we can make clear our views and hopefully get Mrs Gibbons freed as soon as possible."

Gibbons arrived in Sudan in August to take up a post at the exclusive Unity high school, which follows a British-style curriculum. In September, during a class on animals and their habitats, she asked her seven-year-old pupils to give a teddy bear a name. They chose Muhammad, the name of one of the boys in the class and a popular name in Sudan.

Last week the education ministry informed the school that a few Muslim parents had complained about the name, and police arrested Gibbons at her home in the school grounds.

Sudan's top clerics, known as the assembly of the Ulemas, said in a statement on Wednesday that parents had handed them a book the teacher was assembling about the bear. "She, in a very abusive manner, used the name of Prophet Muhammad, may Allah shame her," the statement said.

Unity's directors have shut the school to avoid protests like those that greeted the publication of notorious cartoons of the Muslim prophet in a Danish newspaper last year.

    'Blasphemy' teacher found guilty, G, 29.11.2007, http://www.guardian.co.uk/sudan/story/0,,2218871,00.html

3.45pm GMT update

'Blasphemy' teacher appears in court

Thursday November 29, 2007
Guardian Unlimited
David Batty and agencies

A British primary school teacher appeared in a Sudanese court today after being charged with "insulting religion and inciting hatred" for allowing children in her class to name a teddy bear Muhammad.

Gillian Gibbons, 54, from Liverpool, has been held by police in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, since Sunday, accused of insulting the prophet Muhammad. If found guilty, she could be given 40 lashes, a fine or a six-month jail term.

The foreign secretary, David Miliband, who met the Sudanese ambassador, Omer Mohamed Ahmed, in London today to discuss Gibbons's case, said British diplomats would "do everything to avoid" such a sentence.

He said: "The Sudanese legal system has to take its course but common sense has to prevail.

"It's not about disrespect for Sudan, it's about being absolutely clear this is an innocent misunderstanding."

Miliband said that, despite tensions over the Darfur region, there was no "political dispute" over the case.

"This was a person making a contribution to Sudanese society."

The Sudanese prosecutor general, Salah Eddin Abu Zaid, said Gibbons, whose case has drawn international condemnation, could expect a swift and fair trial.

"We don't think this will be a long trial, because there is only one article of the penal code to handle," Abu Zaid said.

He said he had met Gibbons yesterday and that "the lady was fine". She had been provided with a team of lawyers and translators as well as a bed and mattress in her cell, he said.

A spokesman for the prime minister, Gordon Brown, said the government would consider what further steps might be necessary in the light of the meeting with the ambassador today.

He said: "We need to understand the rationale for why Mrs Gibbons has been charged and get a clearer understanding of what the circumstances are ... before we move to the next stage." Full consular assistance would continue to be made available, he said.

Despite Gibbons's colleagues insisting she had made an innocent mistake, Sudan's deputy justice minister confirmed yesterday that she had been charged. "The investigation has been completed and the Briton Gillian was charged under article 125 of the penal code," said Abdel Daim Zamrawi, speaking to the official Sudan news agency in Khartoum.

"The punishment for this is jail, a fine and lashes. It is up to the judge to determine the sentence," he said.

Several British Islamic organisations today voiced support for Gibbons. Muhammad Abdul Bari, secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, said the decision to charge the teacher was "a disgraceful decision" that "defies common sense".

"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, Umar al-Bashir, to intervene in this case without delay to ensure Ms Gibbons is freed from this quite shameful ordeal."

Khalid al-Mubarak, a spokesman for the Sudanese embassy in London, said today it was "unlikely" Gibbons would be convicted.

She had one of the best solicitors in Sudan - Tijani al-Karib - and could appeal if found guilty, he said.

Mubarak said naming the teddy bear Muhammad seemed to have been an "honest mistake". He told BBC Breakfast News: "It should have been discussed at school level but there was a complaint from some irate parents who pressed the case and it went to the ministry of education."

Asked if he thought Gibbons would be able to return to Britain soon, he said: "This is my hope and my prayer."

A British embassy spokesman, Omar Daair, said the school had provided Gibbons's legal defence and translators.

The home secretary, Jacqui Smith, told GMTV: "We are pretty shocked and surprised about the way the Sudanese have behaved in these circumstances. That's why David Miliband, the foreign secretary, has urgently demanded to meet the Sudanese ambassador so we can make clear our views and hopefully get Mrs Gibbons freed as soon as possible."

Gibbons arrived in Sudan in August to take up a post at the exclusive Unity high school, which follows a British-style curriculum. In September, during a class on animals and their habitats, she asked her seven-year-old pupils to give a teddy bear a name. They chose Muhammad, the name of one of the boys in the class and a popular name in Sudan.

Last week the education ministry informed the school that a few Muslim parents had complained about the name, and police arrested Gibbons at her home in the school grounds.

Sudan's top clerics, known as the assembly of the Ulemas, said in a statement on Wednesday that parents had handed them a book the teacher was assembling about the bear. "She, in a very abusive manner, used the name of Prophet Muhammad, may Allah shame her," the statement said.

Unity's directors have shut the school to avoid protests like those that greeted the publication of notorious cartoons of the Muslim prophet in a Danish newspaper last year.

    'Blasphemy' teacher appears in court, G, 29.11.2007, http://www.guardian.co.uk/sudan/story/0,,2218871,00.html

4.30pm GMT update

Sudan teacher charged with insulting religion

Wednesday November 28, 2007
Guardian Unlimited
James Orr and agencies

A British teacher in Sudan accused of blasphemy for naming a teddy bear Muhammad has been charged with inciting hatred and insulting religion, prompting an immediate reaction from the Foreign Office.

Police arrested Gillian Gibbons on Sunday after complaints by parents that she had acted in a way to insult Islam.

A prosecution team in Khartoum "has completed its investigation and has charged the Briton Gillian [Gibbons] under article 125 of the criminal code", the Suna news agency said, quoting a justice ministry official.

The matter will go before a court tomorrow and Gibbons is expected to appear, Reuters reported.

A Foreign Office spokesman said the foreign secretary, David Miliband, would summon the Sudanese ambassador "as a matter of urgency".

"I can confirm Gillian Gibbons has been charged under article 125 of the Sudanese Criminal Code," said the spokesman. "The charges are insulting religion and inciting hatred."

Gibbons, 54, who taught at the exclusive British-style Unity high school in Khartoum, had asked her pupils to name the bear as part of a project to teach them about animals.

But officials from the country's education ministry took action after critics claimed that her choice of name for the bear contravened religious laws.

Lawyers say the teacher, who is from Liverpool, could face 40 lashes, a fine or six months in jail if convicted.

Earlier today, three British embassy officials and a teaching colleague from Unity school were allowed to visit Gibbons for more than 90 minutes.

"I can confirm that we have met Ms Gibbons and she said she is being treated well," said the British consul, Russell Phillips. "We remain in close contact with the Sudanese authorities on this case," he said, declining to give further details.

The teddy bear incident occurred in September this year, a month after Gibbons first arrived in Sudan. It was not until last week, however, that Unity's director was informed that a few parents had complained to the Ministry of Education that their religion had been insulted.

For devout Muslims, any depiction of the prophet Muhammad is regarded as blasphemous. As a result the school closed until January, for fear of reprisals.

The feeling among most teachers and parents at Unity - Muslim and non-Muslim - is that the Sudanese authorities have overreacted.

One English mother, who had a child in one of the other classes in Unity, said: "I was just gobsmacked. And when I talked about it to colleagues who were Muslims, they felt the same.

"When I first heard about the teddy bear I thought 'Oh no, don't go down that road. That's a really bad idea.' But she had just arrived in Sudan. She must have been idealistic, full of new ideas. She just didn't realise that it was such a problem."

Yesterday, even the Sudanese embassy in London called the controversy a "storm in a teacup". Khalid al-Mubarak, the embassy spokesman, told the BBC he expected the case would be treated as a "minute complaint", and that cultural differences had caused the problem.

    Sudan teacher charged with insulting religion, G, 28.11.2007, http://www.guardian.co.uk/sudan/story/0,,2218420,00.html

'Teddy bear' teacher charged with insulting Islam

November 28, 2007
From Times Online
Steve Bird and Rob Crilly

The British school teacher arrested in Sudan has been charged today with blasphemy and accused of insulting Islam and inciting hatred after her pupils named a teddy bear Muhammad.

Gillian Gibbons, 54, now faces 40 lashes, a six month prison sentence or a fine if convicted of the crime. She has spent three days being questioned by police in Khartoum and a case against her was yesterday sent to prosecutors.

“Khartoum north prosecution unit has completed its investigation and has charged the Briton Gillian (Gibbons) under Article 125 of the criminal code,” the Sudanese news agency SUNA said, quoting a senior Justice Ministry official.

She is due to appear before a judge tomorrow for a formal hearing. It is believed a judge will hear her case before passing sentence in the coming weeks.

Today’s move follows mounting pressure and a series of protests in Sudan, by Muslims who claimed that the former deputy head from Liverpool had committed blasphemy.

The public furore over the issue appeared to be being fuelled by inaccurate rumours about what actually happened in her classroom.

Muhammad, a 7-year-old student in her class at Unity High School, said last night that he had named the teddy bear after himself, and that most in the class agreed with his choice.

Many Sudanese had not heard the full story, however, and thought she had made a model of an animal and named it Muhammad after Islam’s Prophet.

Leaflets have been distributed in Khartoum calling for protests after Friday prayers as students at the city’s university held protests waving Sudanese newspapers which featured pictures of the teacher on the front page.

Mohamed Toum, a law student, said: “She is a teacher and should be teaching her pupils to be respectful and have morals, but instead she is doing the opposite.”

Abdallah, a science student, said: “When we heard we wanted to demonstrate immediately but some said we should wait and see what the concerned authorities find out.”

However, others in the city were more lenient. Sabir Abdel Karim, a shopkeeper, said that if Ms Gibbons had not intended to insult Islam, an apology to Muslims would be enough to end the problem.

“If the teacher apologised to the Sudanese people and to all Muslims because she insulted the Prophet Mohammad then this is enough to end the matter,” he said.

“Any one can make a mistake and Muslims are forgivers. She will be forgiven and God will be the judge.

“If there was a misunderstanding as to what happened this can be resolved peacefully.”

Earlier today Ms Gibbons told British diplomats who visited her in prison that she was being treated well by the authorities.

A British embassy spokesman said “I can confirm that we have met Ms. Gibbons and she said she is being treated well,” said British consul Russell Phillips.

“We remain in close contact with the Sudanese authorities on this case,” he said, declining to give further details.

A pale-faced Ms Gibbons walking with her head down and a thin blue blanket wrapped around her shoulders was taken from her prison cell to the meeting room earlier today.

    'Teddy bear' teacher charged with insulting Islam, Ts, 28.11.2007, http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/africa/article2961571.ece

Brown to reassure Washington

that US remains Britain's closest ally

· Mansion House speech will stress shared values
· Better relations with EU opens way for reform

Monday November 12, 2007
Guardian
Tania Branigan, political correspondent

Gordon Brown will seek to reassure the United States tonight that the special relationship still lies at the heart of British foreign policy, following concerns that transatlantic ties have been weakened since his predecessor departed.

In the annual Mansion House foreign policy speech, the prime minister will stress that America remains Britain's most important ally and shares its values. He will welcome its improving relations with the rest of Europe, arguing that paves the way for reform of international institutions such as the United Nations - allowing them to tackle issues ranging from the environment to turbulence in global financial markets effectively.

"He is emphasising how important our relationship with the US is, to ensure there are no misunderstandings there," said a No 10 source.

Brown's first visit to Washington as prime minister this summer was overshadowed by the foreign minister Lord Malloch-Brown's suggestion that Britain and the US would no longer be "joined at the hip". Malloch-Brown, formerly UN deputy secretary general, yesterday attempted to dispel growing speculation about his own future by insisting he would remain in office.

In a television interview yesterday, Brown said: "I want to send a message more generally about the foreign policy of our country. I think it's important to remember that Britain is part of a network of relationships around the world - we're part of the European Union, we're part of Nato, we're part of the Commonwealth, and the Commonwealth heads of government meeting will be held in Uganda very soon - and the strength of our relationship with America is incredibly important to the future of the world. If we're going to rebuild the international institutions as I think we should be doing, to meet the challenges of the next stage, then we want to work with America to enable us to do so."

He said that central to the way Britain conducts its foreign policy was the great change taking place in diplomatic relations which saw Germany, France and the EU moving more closely with the US, a position he said was to the benefit of Britain and the world. "America is our most important ally, it will always be because of the values we share with America," he told Sunday Live on Sky News."There's a great opportunity for all of us to work together to reshape the international institutions, to make them fit-for-purpose for the decade that we are in, rather than the 1940s [when they were created]."

Asked whether he would back the US in military action against Iran, Brown said: "The diplomatic route is bearing some success and it's got to be stepped up over the next period of time, if that becomes necessary."

He added: "I think people are genuinely worried about the nuclear ambitions of Iran, in contravention of everything that has been promised. I believe, however, that while nothing should be ruled out it is important to say that the sanctions we are placing on Iran are having some effect."

While Brown's foreign policy may now be viewed as in line with that of Tony Blair, a new BBC documentary screened this week will detail their conflicts on other issues. In an interview for The Blair Years, Blair said: "I'm not saying there weren't real problems, but it never bothered me." He said there was no point in going into the past in a way that would be "unhelpful" to Brown.

The Mansion House speech comes amid increasing speculation about Brown's minister for Asia, Africa and the UN. Malloch-Brown attempted to fight off a whispering campaign in Westminster yesterday, telling the Observer: "I will not be put off by these unfair, nasty attacks." He added: "Having ripped my family up from the US ... this is hardly the time to say goodbye."

He has faced repeated media attacks; notably a ferocious assault in this week's Spectator, which pointed out the only other ministers with grace and favour homes were the prime minister and the chancellor. The Sunday Times yesterday claimed that Foreign Office officials had dubbed him "Bollock-Brown". He had been forced to "clarify" remarks in the Lords, after he implied negotiations could be held with Hamas and Hizbollah.

    Brown to reassure Washington that US remains Britain's closest ally, G, 12.11.2007, http://politics.guardian.co.uk/foreignaffairs/story/0,,2209555,00.html