Via AP and Reuters:

KHARTOUM: The British teacher jailed in Sudan for allowing her students to name a teddy bear Mohammed was released last night only hours after receiving a pardon from President Omar al–Bashir.

Gillian Gibbons – sentenced on Thursday to 15 days in jail for insulting Islam – was released into the care of the British embassy in Khartoum following an appeal by two leading British Muslims to Mr Bashir.

Senior presidential adviser Ghazi Saladdin said Mr Bashir insisted that Ms Gibbons had had a “fair trial”, but he agreed to pardon her because of the efforts by the British delegation, led by Labour peer Nazir Ahmed and his Tory colleague Sayeeda Warsi.

It was unclear when Ms Gibbons would leave Sudan. Sudanese presidential spokesman Mahzoub Faidul said earlier that she was to fly back last night. However, travel agents in Sudan said the earliest Europe-bound flights would not leave Khartoum until today. Ms Gibbons, in a written statement read by Baroness Warsi after news of the impending release, apologised for any discomfort she had caused to the people of Sudan.

“I have been in Sudan for only four months but I have enjoyed myself immensely. I have encountered nothing but kindness and generosity from the Sudanese people,” she said.

“I have great respect for the Islamic religion and would not knowingly offend anyone. I am sorry if I caused any distress.”

Baroness Warsi, the Tory spokeswoman on community cohesion, and Lord Ahmed, had launched a private initiative to secure Ms Gibbons’s release. They delayed their departure after Mr Bashir confirmed a last-minute meeting.

Ms Gibbons had sparked a complaint after she let her pupils at Khartoum’s private Unity High School pick their favourite name for a teddy bear as part of a project in September. Twenty out of 23 in the class chose Mohammed – a popular boy’s name in Sudan, as well as the name of Islam’s Prophet.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, whose country has had poor relations with Sudan for several years mainly due to the conflict in Darfur, said he was “delighted and relieved” to hear Ms Gibbons would be released. “Common sense has prevailed. She will be released into the care of our embassy in Khartoum after what must have been a difficult ordeal,” he said.

Sudan’s Council of Muslim Scholars had urged the Government on Sunday not to pardon Ms Gibbons, saying it would damage Khartoum’s reputation with Muslims around the world.

Hundreds took to the streets of the capital on Friday, many waving swords and Islamic flags, calling for her death.

But many ordinary Sudanese said they thought she had made an innocent mistake.

Khartoum has had tense ties with Europe and the US over disagreements on how to handle Darfur, where the UN wants to deploy a joint UN-African force.