Sudanese President Omar Hassan Al-Bashir pardons a gauche Brit, writes Gamal Nkrumah The distasteful episode was a classic case of the clash of cultures. But self-interest and sensible policy can cut the odds of trouble. British Foreign Secretary David Miliband pronounced the arrest of English teacher Gillian Gibbons an "innocent misunderstanding". Yes, at a certain level it was ingenuous, but it was not entirely innocuous. The ominous signal was that it demonstrated the depth of impassioned fury that the ordinary Sudanese feels towards Westerners -- especially those dismissed as "infidels" or "godless secularists". There is no escaping the fact that many Sudanese called for Gibbon's blood. They found her guilty and thought the sentence too lenient. Moreover, they expressed utter disdain at her release. So what does that tell us about the Sudanese national psyche? And, we are not strictly speaking about the Sudanese as a whole, but about the entire Muslim world. This episode reflects the general attitude of Muslims around the globe, at least in the Muslim heartlands: Sudan could easily have been Pakistan, Indonesia, Iran or Morocco. There is a glaring cultural gap between Muslims and Westerners, a gap that seemingly at first glance is extremely difficult to bridge. However, all's well that ends well. And, herein lies the hope. British government intervention won the day and secured the release of Gibbons. Mercifully, her release was secured by diplomatic as opposed to military means. It is also worthy of note that the crisis was resolved in a couple of days. In a way, it paves the way for the resolution of such diplomatic rows by peaceful means in the future. Two Muslim MPs of Britain's House of Lords were quickly dispatched to the Sudanese capital Khartoum: Lord Nazir Ahmed and Baroness Sayeeda Warsi. "We understand the situation and the culture of this part of the world and we also understand our [presumably secular British] culture and our norms and customs, and by playing this important role we think that we can offer help," noted Baroness Warsi in Khartoum. "Common sense has prevailed," observed British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Lord Nazir pronounced the whole affair an "unfortunate misunderstanding". Gibbons was charged with insulting the Prophet Mohamed and was promptly arrested on 25 November and was sentenced to six months imprisonment and 40 lashes, plus a hefty fine. "These are very sensitive and difficult times. We need to deal with these things very sensitively and diplomatically to ensure that the agenda that we came with reaches a conclusion," Warsi told reporters in Khartoum. And, sure enough, her mediating efforts and that of Lord Nazir produced fruitful results. "Gillian should never have been arrested in the first place, let alone held in jail. She had done nothing wrong," Lord Nazir explained. "It will be wonderful to see her back in the United Kingdom. I am sure she will be welcomed by both Muslims and non-Muslims after her quite terrible ordeal at the hands of the Sudanese authorities," he concluded. And, she was indeed welcomed upon her arrival in Britain. This was politics as tragi-comic farce. Beyond all that, the militant Islamists in Sudan are livid about the pardon of the British teacher. The intervention of the two British Muslim MPs who flew to Khartoum for the pardon and release of Gibbons was of critical importance. The British MPs were perfect mediators, a true link between East and West, North and South. The British teacher expressed her repentance for her oversight and confessed her respect for the religion of Islam. "I am sorry about what happened, I respect the Islamic religion," she said. Nevertheless, the demonstrations in Khartoum show that there is a tremendous popular sentiment against the lenient sentencing of the British teacher. Many Sudanese wanted to see a more stringent sentence. But self-interest and sensible policy can cut the odds of trouble. The Sudanese president acknowledged the important role played by the British envoys. He stressed that the British Muslims are a critical element in mediating between the British government and Muslim countries. He also noted that this might be an opportunity for closer cultural exchange between the two countries and cultures. The detention of the British teacher, even though by all accounts she was well treated, points to the cultural divide that separates the West and the Muslim world. It also demonstrates that this is the way forward in the peace talks between the central government in Khartoum and armed opposition groups in Darfur and other parts of the country. It is in this context that a conference on Sudan was officially inaugurated on Monday in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh. Representatives from Libya, Eritrea and Chad also participated in the Sharm El-Sheikh meeting. The meeting which took place under the auspices of the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, is yet another move to help end the political impasse in Sudan. The fact that some of the major Darfur armed opposition groups declined to attend the Sharm El-Sheikh meeting does not augur well. It also dampens hopes that the Darfur crisis would be easily and swiftly resolved. However, it shows that Egypt and other countries in the region continue to search for a final resolution to Sudanese political crises.
