New channel Al Arabiya has just reported that Google Middle East Marketing Director Wael Ghonim has finally been released. CNN correspondent Ben Wedeman also Tweeted that Ghonim has been released. We heard yesterday that Ghonim was expect to be released from captivity at 4 pm today.
Ghonim has been missing since Thursday, January 27th and was believed to have hosted the first Facebook page that organized the January 25th protests. According to reports, Ghonim disappeared shortly after he sent the following Tweet, “Very worried as it seems that government is planning a war crime tomorrow against people. We are all ready to die.”
After his disappearance, Ghonim was chosen as symbolic spokesperson by an Egyptian opposition group as a tactic to speed up his release. A video of a man who may or may not have been Ghonim getting arrested by the police has also been making the rounds on the internet.
We’re awaiting for further confirmation from Ghonim himself, perhaps on his Twitter account.
UPDATE: The Wall Street Journal is reporting the State Department has confirmed that Ghonim has been released. But The New York Times reports that there are conflicting reports, and that the State Department has not confirmed Ghonim’s release.
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