A British teacher jailed in Sudan for insulting Islam by allowing her class to name a teddy bear Mohamed has been moved to a secret location for her own safety.

The dramatic move was made after thousands of weapon-wielding protesters gathered outside the presidential palace in Khartoum to demand a harsher sentence.

Mother-of-two Gillian Gibbons was jailed on Thursday for 15 days and escaped a public flogging.

The perceived leniency incensed Sudan's hardline Muslim clerics - described as "hot heads" by one Sudanese official.

Massing in central Martyrs Square for an hour, the hordes burned pictures of Mrs Gibbons and chanted "Shame, shame on the UK," and "No tolerance: execution," and "kill her, kill her by firing squad".

Riot police kept the mob, who had been ferried in on pick-up trucks after Friday prayers, from the presidential palace.

Dreadlocked protester Yassin Mubarak, swathed in green and carrying a sword, said: "It is a premeditated action and this unbeliever thinks that she can fool us? What she did requires her life to be taken."

Mrs Gibbons, who allowed her class of seven year olds to name a teddy bear Mohammed, was moved from the Omdurman women's prison near Khartoum, said her chief lawyer Kamal al-Gizouli shortly after visiting her to discuss the verdict.

He said: "They moved this lady from the prison department to put her in other hands and in other places to cover her and wait until she completes her imprisonment period."

She will be deported after serving her sentence at a women's prison near Khartoum.

In London, high-level diplomatic negotiations are continuing over the case.

Foreign Secretary David Miliband "expressed in the strongest terms" his concern after summoning Sudanese ambassador Omer Siddig to explain the decision, which the Foreign Office said was "extremely disappointing".

Following a 45-minute meeting, the Foreign Office said there would be further talks in a bid to gain a "swift resolution" to the matter.

The Foreign Office said: "During the meeting, which lasted 45 minutes, the Foreign Secretary expressed in the strongest terms our concern at the continued detention of Gillian Gibbons.

"The Foreign Secretary also spoke to the Sudanese Acting Foreign Minister for 15 minutes on the telephone during the meeting.

"There will be further contacts in the search for a swift resolution of this issue."

The mother-of-two from Aigburth, Liverpool, was found guilty of "insulting the faith of Muslims", said one of her lawyers, Ali Mohammed Ajab.

Her son John, a 25-year-old marketing consultant, said the family were struggling to take in the punishment.

Mrs Gibbons is understood to have defended herself tearfully during an eight-hour trial in Khartoum by explaining her seven-year-old pupils had picked the name for the teddy bear. She maintained she had never wanted to insult Islam.

Each of her students at Unity High School took the bear home to write a diary entry. The entries were then compiled into a book, with the bear's picture on the cover, which was titled 'My Name Is Mohamed'.

It was disclosed in the trial that the person who sparked the arrest was school office assistant Sara Khawad who complained to the Ministry of Education. Mrs Gibbons was then arrested on Sunday.

Following the verdict, school director Robert Boulos said the teacher would only serve ten days as she had already been in custody for five days.

He said: "It's a very fair verdict. She could have had six months and lashes and a fine, and she only got 15 days and deportation."

He added the school would not appeal against the decision, although officials for the Khartoum Centre for Human Rights said an objection would be launched.

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