(Agencies)
Updated: 2007-12-01 12:44

A Muslim cleric at Khartoum's main Martyrs Mosque denounced Gibbons during one sermon, saying she intentionally insulted Islam. He did not call for protests, however.

"Imprisoning this lady does not satisfy the thirst of Muslims in Sudan. But we welcome imprisonment and expulsion," the cleric, Abdul-Jalil Nazeer al-Karouri, a well-known hard-liner, told worshippers.

Britain, meanwhile, pursued diplomatic moves to free Gibbons. Prime Minister Gordon Brown spoke with her family to convey his regret, his spokeswoman said.

"He set out his concern and the fact that we were doing all we could to secure her release," spokeswoman Emily Hands told reporters.

The Foreign Office said consular staff had visited Gibbons in prison, and she was in good health.

Officials said Lord Ahmed, a Muslim Labour peer, would travel to Sudan to try to secure Gibbons' release. The Foreign Office said the trip was a private initiative.

In Washington, the US government backed Britain's diplomatic efforts.

"We are very supportive of the British government. They are working to get their citizen back," said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack.

"There is a shared assessment that the punishment that has been imposed on this woman is in every way excessive, even though it has been reduced," he said. "Quite clearly there is an overreaction of the individuals involved in the prosecution of this case."

Most Britons expressed shock at the verdict by a court in Khartoum, alongside hope it would not raise tensions between Muslims and non-Muslims in Britain.

"One of the good things is the UK Muslims who've condemned the charge as completely out of proportion," said Paul Wishart, 37, a student in London.

"In the past, people have been a bit upset when different atrocities have happened and there hasn't been much voice in the UK Islamic population, whereas with this, they've quickly condemned it."

Muhammad Abdul Bari, secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Britain, accused the Sudanese authorities of "gross overreaction."

"This case should have required only simple common sense to resolve. It is unfortunate that the Sudanese authorities were found wanting in this most basic of qualities," he said.

   1 2 3   

   1 2 3