Political Pawn:

The nice lady teacher in Sudan (a British citizen named Ms. Gibbons) who allowed her students to name a Teddy bear Muhammad has received a jail sentence of 15 days, including time served (five days). While a host of Americans react with a range of behaviors from scratching of the head to declarations of insanity, it's appropriate to take a moment and reflect, as a citizen of Sudan has done:

“Our government creates such problems to divert the eyes of the world community from our domestic problems,” Ms. Hussein said. “I am sure that the case of the British teacher is politically motivated and has got nothing to do with our prophet.”

(Izzadine Abdul Rasoul Muhammad for The New York Times)

There's a long history between Sudan and the British—try Googling Lord Gordon and Khartoom—, and our cousins don't always come off looking so good on their relations with the former. On the other hand, Sudan is the place that has been sponsoring genocide in Darfur.

It is interesting that Ms Gibbons was teaching in a private school for the children of wealthy Sudanese families, a detail that is generally left out of TV reporting.