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Google executive released in Egypt: TV

A Google Inc executive who had gone missing in Egypt was released today and was on his way to Tahrir Square, the centre of two weeks of anti-government demonstrations, Al Arabiya television reported.

Updated on: Feb 7, 2011, 21:30:53 IST
AFP | By , Cairo
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A Google Inc executive who had gone missing in Egypt was released on Monday and was on his way to Tahrir Square, the centre of two weeks of anti-government demonstrations, Al Arabiya television reported.

HT Image
HT Image

The station did not give details, but Orascom Telecom chairman Naguib Sawiris said on Sunday authorities promised him Wael Ghonim, Google's head of marketing for the Middle East and North Africa, would be freed.

Google said last week Ghonim had not been seen since Jan 27 and began a public search for him, giving out a telephone number for information about him.

Activists said Ghonim had been involved in founding "We are all Khaled Said", an anti-torture Facebook group named after an activist who rights groups said was beaten to death by police in the port city of Alexandria. Two officers now face trial.

Ghonim's brother, contacted by Reuters, said the family had seen the Al Arabiya report but had no further information.

Protests unprecedented during President Hosni Mubarak's three-decade rule have raged across the most populous Arab country since Jan 25.

Google had earlier launched a service to help Egyptians use Twitter despite government Internet restrictions by dialling a telephone number and leaving a voice mail that would then be sent on the online service.

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