Sudan Teddy Case Stalls 'Tickle Me Muhammad' Launch

(2007-11-30) ? As a Sudanese court handed down a 15-day jail sentence for a British women convicted of allowing school children to name a teddy bear after The Prophet of Islam, Mattel Toys announced today it would delay the launch of its much-anticipated ?Tickle Me Muhammad? toy line.

The teacher, Gillian Gibbons, 54, narrowly escaped 40 lashes, six months in prison and a fine, thanks to the mercy of the Islamic court which instead commended her to the care of the Sudanese penal system where she?ll be one of 1,200 women and children incarcerated in a mosquito-infested prison built to hold about 200.

A Mattel spokesman said the Sudan teddy bear case has caused the company to ?rethink the propriety of the planned pre-Christmas release of Tickle Me Muhammad,? which it described as ?a cuddly adorable friend, with a long plush beard and a puffy turban, who laughs uncontrollably when you touch him almost anywhere.?

?We really thought it would help soften the image of Muslims,? said the unnamed Mattel source, ?and help to bring about the peaceful world order which they have been fighting for almost non-stop over the past 1,400 years.?