December 17, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — A Khartoum court has sentenced two Egyptians to six months in prison for marketing a book that is deemed offensive to Aisha, one of Prophet Mohammed’s wives, local press reported on Monday.

Abdel Fattah Abdel Raouf and Mahrous Mohammed Abdel Aziz were sentenced on Sunday under article 125 of Sudan’s penal code, the same section under which U.K. teacher Gillian Gibbons was convicted after allowing her class to name a teddy bear Mohammed, the daily Al-Rai al-Am reported.

Justice Minister Mohammed Ali al-Mardhi said Dec. 11 following the pair’s arrest that they were guilty of bringing over the book entitled "Aisha, mother of believers, devoured her sons" from bookseller and publisher Madbouli in Egypt and selling it in Sudan.

"The book contains blasphemous passages and particularly despicable offenses to the prophet and to the mother of believers," as Aisha is often called, Mardhi said at the time.

Under article 125, the two could have faced 40 lashes and a fine, as well as the jail sentence.

On Nov. 29, Gillian Gibbons was sentenced to 15 days in prison for insulting religion but after spending eight days in custody, she was pardoned by Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir following the mediation of two U.K. Muslim peers.

(AFP)