Google's Ghonim gets back to Liberation Square

WAEL GHONIM is tweeting from Tahrir, or Liberation Square in Cairo ten days after having been arrested by Egyptian state security forces.

The Egyptian born Google Middle East and North Africa manager has become a bit of celebrity protestor after his disappearence on 27 January was widely reported. Finally released yesterday, at 12.30pm GMT today Ghonim tweeted that he was trying to enter Tahrir square.

His new-found celebrity status saw him give an emotional interview with Egypt's Dream channel last night over those murdered by state forces. Human Rights Watch estimates that 297 have been killed since 28 January. There have been 232 dead in Cairo, 52 in Alexandria and 13 in Suez.

Tweeting since his release, Ghonim is refusing interviews with foreign media but does praise his employer for its efforts to find him. Google's only statement on its employee is, "It is a huge relief that Wael Ghonim has been released. We send our best wishes to him and his family."

In response to Hosni Mubarak's regime shutting off the Internet, Google had set up a phone-a-tweet service to allow the Egyptian people to get around the ban. Egypt's Internet access is now back up since 2 February, and after a lull in the protests large numbers are again massing in Cairo and Alexandria.

Mubarak is offering constitutional reform and a roadmap to a transitional government, but few Egyptians trust him and quite frankly most people in that country want him to simply step down. µ