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Egypt Frees Google Executive

   VOA News  February 07, 2011

   Egyptian authorities have released an executive for the software giant
   Google who had not been seen for more than a week.
   Security  sources say Wael Ghoneim, Google's head of marketing for the
   Middle  East  and  North  Africa, was freed on Monday. The Wall Street
   JournalĀ   reports  Ghoneim played a prominent role in online activism
   in  the  months  ahead  of  the historic protests calling for Egyptian
   President Hosni Mubarak's ouster.
   Ghoneim  had  not  been  seen since January 27, but friends and family
   worried  that  authorities had arrested him during protests in Cairo's
   Tahrir Square, an epicenter of the anti-government demonstrations.
   His  family  was unable to confirm his whereabouts or his arrest until
   Sunday,  when  Egyptian telecom tycoon Naguib Sawiris said he would be
   released the following day.
   The  human  rights  group  Amnesty  International  was  concerned that
   Ghoneim faced a serious risk of torture by Egyptian security forces.
   Also,  a journalist for al-Jazeera's English-language news channel was
   released  on  Sunday  after  spending  several hours in custody. Ayman
   Mohyeldin, an American citizen, was detained near Tahrir Square.
   Dozens of journalists have been detained, injured and threatened while
   covering events in Egypt.

   Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.
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References

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