British Teacher Home From Sudan

Gillian Gibbons, center, the British teacher jailed in Sudan for letting her students name a teddy bear Muhammad, with her son John and daughter Jessica shortly after her arrival at Heathrow airport in London.

December 4, 2007

British Teacher Home From Sudan
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 12:40 p.m. ET

LIVERPOOL, England (AP) -- Muslim leaders bearing flowers delivered a message of support Tuesday before the homecoming in northern England of a British teacher jailed in Sudan for allowing her students to name a teddy bear Muhammad.

Gillian Gibbons was due to return to Liverpool after being pardoned for insulting Islam -- ending a case that set off an international outcry and angered many moderate Muslims.

After traveling through the night from Sudan, Gibbons told reporters awaiting her arrival at London's Heathrow Airport that she was stunned by the swift turn of events and her eight days in jail for insulting Islam.

''I'm just an ordinary middle-aged primary school teacher. I went out there to have an adventure, and got a bit more than I bargained for,'' she said. ''I don't think anyone could have imagined it would snowball like this.''

At her son's home in Liverpool, members of the Islamic Society of Britain brought a bouquet with the message: ''Welcome back, Gillian.''

''It was outrageous, she shouldn't have been treated that way,'' said Dr. Abdul Hamid, 33. ''She's been the victim of something ridiculous. We're glad she's back home and her ordeal is all over.''

Gibbons, 54, was freed Monday after two Muslim members of Britain's House of Lords met with Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir. The teacher sent the president a statement saying she did not mean any offense.

''I'm very glad to be back, and I'm a little shocked about all the media attention that I've been getting. I'm looking forward to seeing my family and friends and to have a good rest, and I'm hoping that you'll give me space in order to do that,'' she said in a statement.

''It has been an ordeal, but I'd like want you to know that I was well-treated in prison and everybody was very kind to me.''

Gibbons expressed sorrow at leaving Sudan, and said that until she was jailed, she had had only good experiences.

''I wouldn't like it to put anyone off going to Sudan -- in fact I know of a lovely school that needs a new Year Two teacher,'' she said.

Her son John and daughter Jessica went to Heathrow from their homes in Liverpool, a port city in northwest England.

Gibbons smiled broadly as she was hugged by her son, and jokingly said to him, ''That's enough affection for one day.''

Al-Bashir insisted Gibbons had a fair trial, in which she was convicted of insulting Islam's Prophet Muhammad and sentenced to 15 days in prison, but the president agreed to pardon her during the meeting with the British delegation, said Ghazi Saladdin, a senior presidential adviser.

Gibbons was cautious about answering questions.

When asked her feelings about the offense she was accused of, she said: ''I don't think I really know enough about it to comment really. It's a very difficult area and a very delicate area.''

She added, ''I was very upset to think that I might have caused offense to people.''

Gibbons said she learned of the intense media coverage of the story on her second day in prison.

Asked if she was terrified of prison, she said, ''That's an understatement.''

''I was in two different prisons,'' she added. I never actually went to the main women's prison, thankfully. The first one I was at was just like a downtown prison -- like a lockup. I was treated the same as any other Sudanese prisoner in that you were given the bare minimum.

''Then I was moved to another prison and there the Ministry of the Interior sent me a bed. which is possibly the best present I've ever had.''

Children and staff at Liverpool's Garston Church of England Primary School, where Gibbons taught for 12 years until 2000, had been praying for her safe return.

''It's been a bizarre and busy week,'' head teacher Rick Widdowson told The Associated Press. ''Gill's safety has been paramount and now she's back home it's the first day of getting her life back on an even keel.''