British Parliamentarians in Sudan

Angry Sudanese protesters burn a newspaper carrying a photo of British teacher Gillian Gibbons, during a protest in Khartoum, Sudan, after Friday prayers, Friday Nov. 30, 2007, The protestors called for the execution of Gibbons, who was convicted of insulting Islam for letting her students name a teddy bear Muhammad. (AP Photos/Abd Raouf) (Abd Raouf - AP)

A lawyer for Gibbons said President Omar al-Bashir could inform the visiting parliamentarians that he had pardoned the teacher.

Gibbons' lawyer Kamal al-Gizouli said Sudan's president could deliver news of a pardon when he meets the British visitors. But it was not immediately clear when they would meet.

"I would not be surprised if president of the republic will tell delegation we have dropped this charge," al-Gizouli told The Associated Press.

Gibbons, 54, was sentenced Thursday to 15 days in jail and deportation for insulting Islam by naming a teddy bear Muhammad _ the name of Islam's prophet. The naming was part of a class project for her 7-year-old students at a private school in Sudan.

Al-Gizouli said only the president has the power to lift Gibbons' 15-day sentence which runs until Dec. 9.

Gibbons was moved from the Omdurman women's prison to a secret location on Friday after the angry demonstrations against her.

There was no overt sign that the government organized the protest, but such a rally could not have taken place without at least official assent.

The teacher's conviction under Sudan's Islamic Sharia law shocked Britons, and the British government has said it was working with Sudan's regime to win her release.

Gibbons escaped harsher punishment that could have included up to 40 lashes, six months in prison and a fine. Her time in jail since her arrest Sunday counts toward the sentence.

During her trial, the weeping teacher said she had intended no harm. Her students, overwhelmingly Muslim, chose the name for the bear, and Muhammad is one of the most common names for men in the Arab world. Muslim scholars generally agree that intent is a key factor in determining if someone has violated Islamic rules against insulting the prophet.

But the case was caught up in the ideology that al-Bashir's Islamic regime has long instilled in Sudan, a mix of anti-colonialism, religious fundamentalism and a sense that the West is besieging Islam.

The uproar comes as the U.N. is accusing Sudan of dragging its feet on the deployment of peacekeepers in the western Sudanese Darfur region.

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Associated Press Writers Jill Lawless in London and Rob Harris in Liverpool, England contributed to this report.