Ananova:

Weapon-wielding mobs of Sudanese protesters have demanded the execution of British teacher Gillian Gibbons.

Thousands joined together on the streets of Khartoum, some with knives and sticks, shouting for a harsher sentence for the mother-of-two jailed for 15 days on Thursday.

Mrs Gibbons, 54, was found guilty of insulting Islam and escaped a punishment of 40 lashes. But her sentence was seen as lenient by Sudan's hardline Muslim clerics.

Dr Khalid al-Mubarak, of the Sudanese embassy in London, blamed the demonstrations on "hot heads" from "hardline" mosques.

He said: "There are many mosques and different groups congregating in different mosques. After prayer, people in particular mosques, not the mainstream, were the ones shouting the slogans to this effect."

He added: "If a lesson can be learned, it's that anybody going abroad should learn about the culture and orientation before taking any job."

He said a source told him Mrs Gibbons "didn't even know Muhammad was our prophet" and "innocence alone isn't enough" to ensure her freedom.

Dr al-Mubarak said the angry demonstrations showed that many Sudanese thought their government should have insisted on a sterner punishment for Mrs Gibbons, of Aigburth, Liverpool.

A spokesman for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said Mrs Gibbons was "fine". He said: "Consular staff have visited her ... and she said she is fine."

The spokesman said there were no plans to issue advice to British nationals living and working in Sudan in the light of the trouble. However, he added diplomatic staff were keeping "a close eye" on the situation.