Report: British teacher in good spirits

KHARTOUM, Sudan, Dec. 2 (UPI) -- A teacher reportedly is in good spirits while awaiting word on when she might be deported from Sudan for letting her pupils name a teddy bear "Mohammed."

Gillian Gibbons, 54, is completing a 15-day prison sentence for insulting Islam. She is being held in a secret location in Khartoum to protect her from extremists who have called for her death.

Two British Muslim lawmakers, Nazir Ahmed and Sayeeda Warsi, members of the House of Lords, are in Sudan trying to convince President Omar al-Bashir's government to pardon Gibbons and deport her to Britain for her safety, CNN reported Sunday.

Moderates, who hold a majority in Sudan's government, appeared to be backing away from earlier statements that she would be handed over Sunday to the British Embassy in Khartoum, the BBC reported, noting the moderates are feeling pressure from hard-line Muslims.

Ahmed and Warsi met with Gibbons and reported her to be in remarkably high spirits as she awaits word of what comes next, CNN reported.