‘Serious Joker’ Becomes a Movement’s Face

A missing Google executive becomes a movement’s face

Cairo: A missing Google executive, who disappeared after a mass protest on January 25, has become the rallying point for the youth opposition movement behind the demonstrations that have now triggered a national movement against President Hosni Mubarak.

Wael Ghonim, Google's head for marketing in the Middle East and North Africa, has been symbolically named the spokesperson of the "6th of April movement" that organised the largescale protests, CBS News reported, quoting an unnamed leader of the youth movement.

Ghonim, believed to be in detention by Egyptian authorities, has also become a rallying point for protesters in the cyberworld with a mass movement on social networking sites dedicated to track him down.

With the government not confirming that he has been detained, the youth movement that has thousands of supporters in Tahrir square has named him its spokesperson. Leaders of the movement told CBS that if they government wants to address them, it would have to speak to Ghonim.

His friends and colleagues have launched a citywide search for him, besides an online campaign to obtain information of his whereabouts not known since January 25. His last post on Twitter, which he was very active on, was dated January 27.

"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," the post read. In a post a day earlier, he wrote "Going to sleep now and dreaming of freedom :)".

Ghonim, who describes himself as a "serious joker" and someone who loves "challenging the status quo," put up a series of messages on the micro blogging site, encouraging people to march up to the Tahrir square for the Jan 25 protests.

While Google has been trying to make inquiries about his well being, there has not yet been any response from the government on the senior executive, the most high-profile missing person who took part in the protests.

A dedicated Facebook page has also been created to find Ghonim. "For Wael's safety, I cannot provide any name, e-mail address or telephone number to use to tell where he is because it could be the enemy trying to learn. Please use the Google UK telephone number 44 20 7031 3008 if you know where he is," reads a message on the page, which has had thousands of visitors, some putting up photographs and videos that they believe could help.

Source: The Indian Express