Wael Ghonim, Google Executive, Missing Following Egypt Protests
share this story
Google executive Wael Ghonim has gone missing following his arrival in Cairo, where he indicated his plan to join the protests have rocked the city for days.
According to The Next Web, Ghonim, who is Google's head of marketing for the Middle East and North Africa, "flew in to Cairo from Qatar after attending an event on electronic journalism in Doha."
The Wall Street Journal reports:
Wael Ghonim's web postings suggest a deepening engagement with politics. His Facebook page lists opposition figure Mohamed ElBaradei as a person he admires, along with Bill Gates, Warren Buffett and Steve Jobs. In mid-January he tweeted that he was traveling to Qatar to participate at an Internet freedom forum hosted by network Al Jazeera.Later, he sent a tweet that said he was going to join the Egyptian protests despite 'all the warnings I got from my relative and friends.'
Ghonim's most recent tweet was sent January 27th. Minutes before his last tweet, he posted, "Pray for #Egypt. Very worried as it seems that government is planning a war crime tomorrow against people. We are all ready to die #Jan25."
"A government that is scared from #Facebook and #Twitter should govern a city in Farmville but not a country like #Egypt #Jan25," he said in another tweet.
A Google spokesperson told the Journal,"We care deeply about the safety of our employees."
Ghonim's friends have called on others to help in locating the missing Google employee.
@Habibh tweeted, "SOS: Still not able to locate @Ghonim! Next step, try asking powerful ppl, Online and Offline, to make calls and help us locate Wael Ghonim." @Mzaher tweeted a photo of Ghonim, advising anyone who had seen him to contact himself or Najeeb Jarrar, also a Google employee.
Click here for the latest news from Egypt. Have a tip to share? Call 00-1-315-636-0962 or email us at egypt@huffingtonpost.com.
Loading comments… 
First Posted: 01/31/11 01:52 PM ET Updated: 05/25/11 07:30 PM ET