Wael Ghonim, Google Exec Held In Egypt Protests, To Be Freed

CAIRO — An Egyptian businessman says a Google manager held in anti-government protests will go free in less than a day.

Businessman Naguib Sawiris has sought the release of Wael Ghoneim, a Google Inc. marketing manager who took part in the protests and was reported missing Jan. 27.

Sawiris announced Sunday on ON TV, a channel he owns, that Ghoneim is to be freed Monday afternoon.

Sawiris is among a self-appointed group of leading Egyptians who have met with government officials to explore a way out of the standoff between protesters and the government. He says he has been negotiating the release of Ghoneim.

Comments

[parsi]

01:38 PM on 02/07/2011

Hosni Khamenei


http://iranian.com/main/2011/feb/hosni-khamenei#comment-378782

[lqw]

12:58 PM on 02/07/2011

Egypt is now at the bottom of the page ?

[SageSpencer]

02:21 PM on 02/07/2011

I just checked. Wow! That is sad!

[SageSpencer]

12:56 PM on 02/07/2011

Thank you Naguib Sawiris.

[HoosierInMaryland]

12:51 PM on 02/07/2011

What the US should do is to very publicly announce that it knows of x, y and z persons being held, and that it demands they be released IMMEDIATELY. It also should establish a method for people to identify others who have been arrested, make those names public also, and demand they also be released IMMEDIATELY.

[Alexodia]

06:25 AM on 02/08/2011

What? If you break the laws in a nation you are in you deserved to be arrested for them. Ignorance is not an excuse. The only exception is countries that are hostile to the US in which case our citizens have no reason to be there.

[HoosierInMaryland]

07:41 PM on 02/08/2011

Egypt has, in it's Constitution, provisions for freedom of speech and freedom of assembly. The Egyptian Constitution also provides for contested elections.

So why are people arrested for expressing their opinion of the government? Why were people peaceably assembling in a public space attacked? Why are members, especially leaders, of opposition parties arrested?

Oh, and the people arrested have not usually been Americans. In fact, most of those arrested 'for violating the law' have been Egyptians.

[excellent chef]

12:50 PM on 02/07/2011

Mubarak's prime minister asks him to write a farewell note to his people. Mubarak answers: "Why, where are they going?"

[dissanayake]

12:26 PM on 02/07/2011

The Geriatrics in the Mubarak Regime, are now resorting to throwing Geeks' in the slammer?

How Pathetic.

[babybecks]

12:12 PM on 02/07/2011

Great news. But what about all the other protesters and dissidents in there?

[cardholder]

11:52 AM on 02/07/2011

Mubarak and his phony Vp and prime minister should expect an explosion of negative press due to their ham handed attempt to control how much is revealed about the treatment of anti-government protesters and therefore journalists. Al Jazeera reports this morning that the military, recently believed to be supporting the ordinary citizens right to peacefully protest, has entered the fray against journalists' supposed intention to make Egypt look bad, and reducing the space in Liberation Square for the protesters to inhabit, revealing what a precarious position the protesters are really in. Those lucky journalists that have been released have lived to tell the harrowing tales of what they endured and the sounds of others' sadistic treatment. The multitude of journalist still held and suffering incommunicado is unknown.

The US must stop equivocating about which side to support. The secret meetings and their outcomes will also become quite evident in the coming days and weeks. The military's changing response seems to reveal a different tack, reflecting the dwindling patience of Mubarak's government death throes. The coming days are shrouded in ominous dread of the power that will be wielded to crush the people's uprising. American bona fides are being tested. Are we going to be shown to be honest brokers or just as devious as Egypt's current regime?

[Vegasyankee]

11:43 AM on 02/07/2011

The last thread about Egypt on the main page............Sad!

A Corporate ownership is sooooooo much more important.

[HoosierInMaryland]

01:02 PM on 02/07/2011

"The last thread about Egypt on the main page......­......Sad!"

Maybe if you did a bit of scrolling, you'd find:
- "Egyptian Opposition Figure Says Israeli Peace Treaty Is 'Rock Solid' "
- "MORE EGYPT: Al Jazeera Journalist Free.. Mubarak Staying Till September.. Latest Updates.."
- "Egypt, The Age Of Disruption And The 'Me' In Media"
- "Palin Blasts Obama Over Egypt"

And you would find that there is at least a tangential discussion on Egypt in:
- "More World: Berlusconi's Protesters.. Nuclear Treaty.. Wife's Shocking Suicide.. Neo-Nazi Town" (especially in the "Berlusconi's Protesters" article)
- "O'Reilly Interviews Obama"

[Pennsanic]

11:29 AM on 02/07/2011

Maybe we can use Google Earth to track down his location.

[lqw]

11:20 AM on 02/07/2011

Why aren't all the people that have been held because of the riots released ? Journalist are somehow more important than other citizens ?

[interlude]

10:55 AM on 02/07/2011

It seems as if being a Google employee should be thought of like a Roman citizen was.

[audadvnc]

10:54 AM on 02/07/2011

Google = NSA.
Of course he got sprung.