KHARTOUM, Sudan — Two British Parliament members met officials in Sudan on Saturday to try to secure the release of a British teacher imprisoned for naming a teddy bear Muhammad and later said the Khartoum government wants to resolve the case.
Britain’s Channel 4 News quoted the teacher, Gillian Gibbons, as saying in a statement from police custody that she was being treated well.
“I’m fine. I’m well,” Channel 4 quoted Gibbons as saying. “I want people to know I’ve been well-treated and especially that I’m well-fed. I’ve been given so many apples I feel I could set up my own stall. The guards are constantly asking if I have everything I need.
“The Sudanese people in general have been pleasant and very generous, and I’ve had nothing but good experiences during my four months here. I’m really sad to leave, and if I could go back to work tomorrow, then I would.”
Channel 4 said the statement came from Gibbons’ legal team in Khartoum, but her attorney, Kamal al-Gizouli, said he was unaware of any such statement.
Fiona Long, a Channel 4 News spokeswoman, said the program stood by its report.
Gibbons, 54, was sentenced Thursday to 15 days in jail and deportation for insulting Islam by naming a teddy bear Muhammad — the name of Islam’s prophet. The naming was part of a class project for her 7-year-old students at a private school in Sudan.
Al-Gizouli said only the president has the power to lift Gibbons’ 15-day sentence.
