hartoum/London - Protests erupted in the Sudanese capital Khartoum Friday, with thousands of angry demonstrators calling for the death of a British teacher who was convicted of blasphemy for allowing her students to name a teddy bear Mohammed. The protestors poured out of mosques following Friday prayers, some carrying knives and clubs, just a day after Gillian Gibbons, 54, was sentenced to 15 days in prison, rather than a year, 40 lashes or a fine.
The throngs of people gathered in Martyrs' Square outside the presidential palace chanting "no tolerance - execution" and "kill her, kill her by firing squad," the BBC reported.
Cartoons printed in a Danish newspaper depicting the Prophet Mohammed sparked protests across the Muslim world last year. Observers have blamed the Sudanese government for manipulating Gibbons' case and said the teddy row would not inspire as much anger.
The British government was Friday set to continue high-level diplomatic efforts to secure Gibbons' release after she was imprisoned in the furore over the naming of the teddy bear.
Foreign Secretary David Miliband, in a further meeting with Sudanese Ambassador Omer Siddig late Thursday, expressed his concern over the jailing "in the strongest terms."
Miliband also spoke to the Sudanese acting foreign minister for 15 minutes on the telephone during the meeting.
Gibbons was found guilty by a court Thursday for "insulting religion" after she had allowed her primary school pupils to name a teddy bear Mohammed.
She was given a 15-day prison term, of which she will serve the remaining 10 days - after pre-trial detention - in a notorious women's jail in the capital, Khartoum.
During the eight-hour trial Thursday, it emerged that Gibbons was arrested after an office assistant at the Christian charity school, Sara Khawad, registered a complaint over the teddy bear to the Ministry of Education.
Her lawyers have said they would launch an appeal, while British government officials have made it clear they want to see Gibbons freed immediately and returned to Britain.
Condemnation of the Sudanese decision continued in Britain Friday, while in Khartoum, leaflets have been distributed calling for anti- Gibbons demonstrations after Friday prayers.
In London, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams told the BBC: "I can't see any justification for this at all. I think this is an absurdly disproportionate response to what is at worst a cultural faux pas."
Muhammad Abdul Bari, secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, branded the court decision a "gross overreaction from Sudanese authorities."
