Sudan releases Teddy Bear teacher

NY Times:

The British schoolteacher jailed in Sudan for allowing her 7-year-old pupils to name a teddy bear Muhammad was pardoned today by Sudan’s president. She will be sent back to England later today.

Sudan’s president, Omar Hassan al-Bashir, made the decision after a meeting this morning in Khartoum, Sudan’s capital, with two Muslim peers from Britain’s House of Lords, the upper house of Parliament.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown of Britain said he was "delighted and relieved" at the news and that "common sense had prevailed,” according to the BBC.

...

Common sense is a rare commodity in Sudan so everyone should be relieved, but we should not forget how absurd Sudan has acted over a trivial event. Nothing she could have conceivable done could have brought Islam into more disrepute than the ridiculous actions of Sudan's government. The actions have certainly done no good for Sudan.

"This case has done quite a bit of damage to how the Sudanese government will be perceived; they have done their country no favors," said Inayat Bunglawala, spokesman for the Muslim Council of Britain, the county's largest Muslim organization. He called the Gibbon's release "wonderful news."

It is good to see descent Muslims speak out about this kind of idiocy.

The NY Times editors speak out about the lash of "justice" in Sudan and Saudi Arabia.

CNN reports that the teacher has now been released from police custody. Hopefully she will get out of the country before being attacked by a mob.