SUDAN:Baron Ahmed, Britain's first Muslim peer, is due to meet Sudanese president Omar el-Bashir today in an effort to secure the release of a primary school teacher jailed for blasphemy.
A source close to the Sudanese government said they would discuss offering Gillian Gibbons a pardon so she could fly home within days.
Lord Ahmed was due to arrive in Khartoum in the early hours of this morning.
Meanwhile, Ms Gibbons's lawyer, Kamal Jazouli, said he had visited her in her cell at a secret location to take her clothes after she lost her belongings in the rush to leave court on Thursday. He said she had been devastated at the offence she had caused.
"I would never insult anybody intentionally. People who know me know it's not in my nature," she told him.
Details of her testimony in court also began to emerge. She told the judge at Khartoum north criminal court she was desperately disappointed at what had happened.
"It's very sad because I hoped coming here things would go smoothly and safely but now I'm going to have to go home," she said.
Khartoum saw the first outpouring of anger yesterday as about 1,000 people took to the streets after Friday prayers. They burned newspapers bearing pictures of Ms Gibbons and called for her to face a firing squad for her crime.
Chanting "Shame, shame on the UK", they quickly turned on a handful of British reporters who were forced to flee. Riot police looked on as the protesters marched from the presidential palace to Unity High School and then to the British embassy.
The isolated demonstration was the first sign of anger since Ms Gibbons was sentenced to 15 days in prison after her class of six- and seven-year-olds named a teddy bear Muhammad.
She faced a maximum of 40 lashes or a year in prison under Sudan's legal code, which is based on British law but modified to include Sharia punishments.
Teachers have stood by their colleague. They point out that no one complained until last week, even though parents had known about the bear's name since September.
Officials at the British embassy are concerned that the safety of the teacher is at risk if her location is disclosed. "She has been visited by consular staff and is fine," said a spokesman, adding that discussions were under way between the two governments.
Yet there was little reaction elsewhere. Most of the population of Khartoum went about their normal Friday business.
The fried-fish restaurants of Omdurman were filled with men discussing the previous night's big football match as they squeezed lemon juice over battered Nile perch.
Families spent the morning at home and an afternoon playing in Khartoum's parks as usual once prayers were finished.
Prof Eltyeb Hag Ateya, director of Khartoum University's peace research institute, said the rapid resolution of the case and guilty verdict had reduced anger at the perceived insult to the prophet.
"People now feel it is water under the bridge," he said.