Wael Ghonim, the Google marketing executive who was taken into custody by Egyptian authorities more than a week ago, is out and tweeting.
- Gave my 2 cents to Dr. Hosam Badrawy. who was reason why I am out today. Asked him resign cause that's the only way I'll respect him
- Freedom is a bless that deserves fighting for it
"Hossam Bodrawy was appointed the secretary general of the ruling National Democratic Party and head of its policies committees," according to a Daily News Egyt tweet this weekend.
From the NY Times earlier:
Before his family lost contact with him on Jan. 28, Mr. Ghonim had written an ominous post on his @ghonim Twitter page that troubled friends and family, raising concerns about his whereabouts: “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.”
His friends and family initially searched area hospitals for him, while human rights activists became convinced that he was being held by the government authorities for inspiring some of the young digital-savvy Egyptian political organizers to use technology, including Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, to help promote the protests on Jan. 25. For the last eight months, human rights advocates in Egypt have been able to build an online community of more than 470,000 people on the We are all Khaled Said Facebook page and thousands more on YouTube after they focused their social media efforts on police abuse and the case of Khaled Said, a 28-year-old Egyptian man who was beaten to death at the hands of police in Alexandria last June. Full article
Al Jazeera has a report on Ghonim's arrest, which includes video -- unverified -- of Ghonim reportedly being taken into custody in Egypt by men in plain clothes.