Google’s Wael Ghonim is missing in Egypt; company asks public for help finding him
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Reporting from San Francisco — The search for a young Google executive missing in the political turmoil in Egypt has widened as the Internet search giant asked the public in Egypt for help.
FOR THE RECORD:
Google executive: An article in the Feb. 2 Business section about efforts to find Google executive Wael Ghonim, who went missing in Egypt, misspelled Boston technology entrepreneur Habib Haddad’s surname as Habbab. —
Wael Ghonim, who heads marketing for Google in the Middle East and North Africa from the United Arab Emirates, was in Cairo for a conference and has been missing since Friday after writing on Twitter: “Pray for Egypt. Very worried as it seems that government is planning a war crime tomorrow against people. We are all ready to die.”
Ghonim, a native of Cairo who has been working for Google in Dubai for three years, was not known for being politically active, but his friends said he was inspired by the protests. Relatives begged him not to take part in the uprising, but he ultimately decided he should “go for it,” said Habib Habbab, a Boston technology entrepreneur, on Tuesday.
“Despite all the warnings I got from my relatives and friends, I’ll be there,” Ghonim said on Twitter.
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