Teacher Gillian Gibbons is to be released from prison in Sudan today after she was jailed for letting school children name a teddy bear Muhammad. The case has caused international outrage and Muslims have criticised her jailing.

Several thousand people marched in Sudan's capital Khartoum yesterday, calling for a tougher sentence for a British teacher imprisoned for insulting religion. But many other Muslims have called for her immediate release.

As schoolteacher Gillian Gibbons' lawyers prepare an appeal against a 15-day jail sentence imposed in Sudan over the naming of a teddy bear, Muslims in Britain have joined in condemning the decision and calling for clemency.