Freed British teacher to fly home after Sudan ordeal

Gillian Gibbons, the British teacher jailed for insulting Islam in a row over a teddy bear, was preparing to fly home from Sudan today after being pardoned by the country's President. The 54-year-old mother-of-two was released into the care of the British Embassy in Khartoum after receiving an official pardon from Omar al-Bashir. Her release followed 48 hours of negotiations between Sudanese officials and two British Muslim peers, Lord Ahmed of Rotherham and Baroness Warsi. This afternoon, Baroness Warsi said that Mrs Gibbons should be back in the UK by tomorrow but was in good humour and had shared "lots of Yorkshire jokes" with the two peers. All three are originally from Yorkshire. The baroness also revealed that hardliners had been pushing for Mrs Gibbons to face a retrial and probable tougher sentence. "Initially the meetings were hopeful but we felt very quickly the mood changed and a more hard-lined mood developing," she said. "People were calling for a retrial which was a very real possibility." Gordon Brown welcomed the news, saying he was delighted and relieved that Mrs Gibbon's difficult ordeal was over. The Prime Minister said in a statement: "Common sense has prevailed... Times