A British teacher in the Sudan discovers the joys of radical Islam: "British teacher Gillian Gibbons has been convicted of inciting religious hatred for letting her pupils name a teddy bear Muhammad and sentenced to 15 days in prison and deportation from Sudan, one of her defense lawyers said Thursday. "The judge found Gillian Gibbons guilty and sentenced her to 15 days jail and deportation," said Ali Mohammed Hajab, a member of her defense team. Gibbons, 54, was arrested Sunday after complaints to the Education Ministry that she had insulted Prophet Muhammad, the most revered figure in Islam, by applying his name to a toy animal."
I suppose the Sudanese expect us to be grateful that she was not given 40 lashes.
What's really going on here? The sentence was slightly moderated to appease the British. But she was convicted in the first place in order for Sudan's leader to continue to burnish his Muslim credentials, and to appease Muslim radicals in the country who apparently threatened demonstrations. There was even fear for the teacher's life.
