'Mohammed' teddy bear teacher held

KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) -- A British teacher has been arrested in Sudan for allegedly insulting Islam by naming a teddy bear Mohammed, taken as a reference to Islam's prophet and founder, the Sudan Media Center says.

The teacher, who wrote the name on the bear, was being interrogated Monday, the semiofficial center said. She was arrested Sunday after the Ministry of Education filed a complaint, acting on behalf of a parent of one of her students.

The British Foreign Office identified her as Gillian Gibbons, 54, and said her 7-year-old students named the bear when she asked them to. It was not clear whether Gibbons intended to name the bear after the prophet. Mohammed is a common name in the Muslim world.

The Sudan Media Center said legal procedures were under way against Gibbons, who taught at the Unity High School in Khartoum, which teaches students aged 4 to 18.

The school could not be reached for comment, and the British Embassy in Khartoum did not return calls.

A Sudanese government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said Gibbons was still being detained Monday pending the completion of the investigation.

Abdul Mageed Khogalli, a member of the government's Commission for Non-Muslims, said he was aware of the case but could not comment.

Gibbons' former colleagues in Liverpool, England, said they were dismayed by the news of her arrest.

Gillian Jones, head teacher at Dovecot Primary School, where Gibbons was a deputy head teacher from 2002 to July, when she left for Sudan, said she was "absolutely certain" that Gibbons would not have done anything to insult any religion.

"Gillian is a very talented and able teacher and she was extremely popular with the pupils at this school," Jones said. E-mail to a friend

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