CAIRO - Hours after the release of key detainee Wael Ghoneim from his 12-days detention, thousands of young Egyptians started calling for the one thing he asked them not to consider him the hero of the popular revolt taking place now in Egypt. Ghoneim, Google's head of marketing for the Middle East and North Africa, was the anonymous administrator of a Facebook page devoted to Khaled Saeed, a blogger allegedly killed by police in the coastal city of Alexandria, which called for the January 25 demonstrations along with some other groups. Ghoneim disappeared on January 27, leaving thousands of web-activists spreading the word. "I'm not a hero and I don't want people to consider me so," said Ghoneim late on Monday shortly after his release. "The real heroes are still there in Al Tahrir Square and all those who lost their lives," he added with tears in his sleepless eyes. Following Ghoneim's disappearance, over 70,000 users of the Facebook had joined several groups calling for information about the absent young man, like 'Help us locate Wael Ghoneim', 'Find Wael Ghoneim – Missing in Egypt' and others. "I was kidnapped from the street late on January 27, which is totally illegal," Ghoneim added in a live talk show on the privately-owned Dream TV, stating that he wasn't subject to any torture. "Why don't you [Ministry of the Interior] let my mother, father and wife know where am I? There should be more respect to laws and that's what all Egyptians protesting in the streets want." Apparently exhausted and feeling bitter, Ghoneim said that it was too late for some reforms, adding that he did not want to see any traces for the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP). "I'm speaking only for myself and I am not representing anyone, when I say so," he stressed, adding: "I told Hossam Badrawi [the new secretary-general of the NDP] so and told him also that new political parties must be formed from people who love this country." This young Egyptian stated clearly that now isn't the time to impose certain ideologies or promote agendas."There is no one who can allege he is authorised to speak for those out in the street". However, almost immediately after his interview on TV thousands of people supported a call to make Ghoneim the spokesman for the revolution. The number of supporters of an Arabic-language Facebook page called 'I Delegate Wael Ghoneim to Speak for Egypt's Revolution' that was formed Monday night, reached over 101,000 supporters with expectations that this number would further increase. "I stress once again that I'm not a hero and that the movement that started with the 'Internet kids' as they used to call us has widen to include all Egyptians and I'm sure that we will God Willing change our country, because it's ours not theirs," Ghoneim concluded before bursting out in tears for the Egyptians killed in the public uprising against the regime.
