A British schoolteacher was sentenced Thursday to 15 days in jail and will be deported from Sudan for allowing her students to name a teddy bear after the Muslim Prophet Muhammad.

Gillian Gibbons, 54, was convicted by a Sudanese court of inciting religious hatred. She will be deported after completion of her sentence.

The British teacher was arrested Sunday after a complaint was lodged with the Education Ministry that she insulted the Prophet Muhammad -- the most revered religious figure in Islam -- by applying his name to a stuffed animal.

She faced a maximum penalty of 40 lashes and six months in prison for the charge.

The British Foreign Ministry said it was "extremely disappointed" by the conviction.

"We are extremely disappointed that the charges against Gillian Gibbons were not dismissed," British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said in a statement.

"As I said this morning, our clear view is that this is an innocent misunderstanding by a dedicated teacher. Our priority now is to ensure Ms. Gibbons' welfare and we will continue to provide consular assistance to her," he said.

Sudanese Ambassador Omer Siddiq has been called to the Foreign Office to explain the decision.

CTV's London Bureau Chief Tom Kennedy told CTV Newsnet on Thursday that the identity of the original complainant was revealed in court.

It's reported a school staff member, someone who may have harboured a grudge with the school, lodged the original complaint with authorities.

"There were no complaints about the naming of this bear for several months. None of the parents complained and then suddenly, last Sunday, Ms. Gibbons was arrested," Kennedy said.

Swift trial

Riot police surrounded the building on Thursday as Gibbons approached. Dressed in a dark blue jacket and blue dress, she was not handcuffed when she entered the court in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum, media inside the courtroom said before being ordered out.

A statement from Gibbons, explaining that her seven-year-old students voted to name the stuffed animal Muhammad, was read to the court Thursday, British Embassy spokesman Omar Daair said.

Gibbons' chief defence lawyer, Kamal Djizouri, said ahead of the proceedings that he would show there was "absolutely no intention to insult religion, and for blasphemy to take place there must be an insult.''

"There is a very big difference between the holy character of Prophet Muhammad and the name Muhammad given to a person,'' he said, pointing out the name is commonly used throughout the Arab world.

"When somebody is named Muhammad by his parents and then turns out to be a thief, is it an insult to religion to say, 'That Muhammad is a thief'? Of course not.''

No consular representation was allowed in the courtroom during the proceedings.

Tensions ignited

The charges have sparked tensions between the Sudanese government and British officials; however, the British government maintains it is a consular matter, Kennedy reported.

The controversy erupted from a classroom lesson. Gibbons was teaching the elementary students about animals and asked one of the children to bring a teddy bear to class, Robert Boulos, a spokesman for Unity High School in Khartoum, has said.

The students were instructed to pick names for the stuffed animal and they voted in favour of naming the bear Muhammad.

The children were instructed to keep a diary of their time with the bear when they each took it home on weekends.

The diary entries were collected in a book with the bear's picture on the cover, labelled, "My Name is Muhammad," he said. The bear itself was never labelled with the name, he added.

Sudan's top Muslim clerics called for mass demonstrations in the streets of Khartoum after Friday prayers. Other hard-lined clerics are calling for Gibbons to face the full force of Shariah law, Kennedy said.

Sudanese religious leaders said Gibbons intentionally insulted the prophet and compared her to author Salman Rushdie, saying her actions were "blasphemies".

Rushdie's novel, "The Satanic Verses," prompted Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini to issue a fatwa -- a religious edict -- against the author for insulting Islam. The fatwa triggered death threats against Rushdie and inevitably forced him into exile.

With files from The Associated Press