Nov. 29 (Bloomberg) -- The British teacher convicted by a Sudanese court of insulting Islam and sedition after she allowed pupils to name a teddy bear Muhammad will be deported after serving a 15-day jail sentence, the U.K. said.

Gillian Gibbons, 54, was sentenced today to serve 15 days from the day of her arrest on Nov. 25 and then will be expelled, Omar Daair, a spokesman for the U.K. Embassy in Sudan's capital, Khartoum, said today.

``We are extremely disappointed,'' he said. British Foreign Secretary David Miliband held a 45 minute meeting with Sudanese ambassador to London, Omer Siddiq, after the verdict was announced, the U.K. Foreign and Commonwealth Office said in an e-mailed statement. Additional meetings will be held tonight and tomorrow, it said.

Gibbons allowed her class of 6- and 7-year-old children to name the toy bear used in a school project in September. Muhammad, the name of Islam's prophet, was the most popular choice. The pupils were studying animals and their habitats. Several parents complained later to the authorities that the project had insulted Islam.

``I am very disappointed she has been found guilty,'' Louise Ellman, the lawmaker who represents Gibbons' home area of Liverpool, in northwestern England, said in an interview today. ``Perhaps there is some relief that the sentence could have been harsher. I hope she will be released as soon as possible.''

Teacher's Release

Miliband earlier called for the teacher's release, saying the incident was an ``innocent misunderstanding.''

The trial was held in a criminal court in Khartoum today. Gibbons was charged with insulting religion and inciting hatred under Article 125 of Sudan's criminal law. Gibbons faced a maximum sentence of sixth months in jail, a fine and 40 lashes, the Agence France-Presse reported.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown took a ``close interest'' in the arrest and trial of Gibbons, and spoke to her family early today, his spokesman, Michael Ellam, told reporters.

Ellam added that the government had full consular access to the teacher, without describing the conditions of her imprisonment.

``Gillian should never have been arrested, let alone charged and convicted of committing a crime,'' Dr. Muhammad Abdul Bari, Secretary-General of the Muslim Council of Britain, a national umbrella group for Islamic organizations, said in an e-mailed statement.

To contact the reporters on this story: Karl Maier in Rome at kmaier2@bloomberg.net; Kari Lundgren in London at klundgren2@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 29, 2007 18:47 EST