Teachers at her school say that calling the teddy bear Mohammad was not Gibbons's idea and that no parents objected when she sent circulars about a reading project that included the bear, introduced in September, as a fictional participant.
GIBBONS 'WELL'
A spokesman for the British embassy in Khartoum said that the British consul and deputy ambassador had seen Gibbons on Friday and that she was well, but gave no clue as to where she was being held.
"We are not commenting on her location," spokesman Omar Daair said.
Lawyers had initially said they expected Gibbons to have been taken to Omdurman women's prison, a jail which is overcrowded and usually filled with women serving sentences for making and selling alcohol, illegal in mainly Muslim Sudan. But lawyers could not say on Friday where she was being held.
One defence lawyer said on Thursday that Gibbons had already served five days of her sentence since her arrest on Sunday and that she may not have to serve all the remaining days. The judge said she could leave once she had a compulsory exit visa, defence lawyers said.
Sudan has had poor relations with Britain, the United States and most European countries for several years, mainly due to disagreements over how to handle the conflict in Darfur in western Sudan.
Britain's foreign minister has said he was "extremely disappointed" with the verdict and called in the Sudanese ambassador for an immediate explanation.
The United Nations Security Council, of which Britain is a permanent member, wants to deploy a joint U.N.-African force to Darfur to help end the conflict and help displaced people return home. Khartoum reluctantly agreed but is disputing many details.
International experts estimate that some 200,000 people have died and 2.5 million been driven from their homes in ethnic and political conflict in Darfur since a revolt by mostly non-Arab rebels in 2003.
