BARCELONA, Spain – Google is "very, very proud" of cyberactivist Wael Ghonim, a young executive at the company who emerged as a leading voice of the Egyptian uprising, company boss Eric Schmidt said Tuesday.

Ghonim, Google?s head of marketing for the Middle East and North Africa, administered a Facebook page that helped spark the uprising that toppled President Hosni Mubarak's regime.

The 30-year-old also appeared in an emotional television interview shortly after he was released from police custody after 12 days in custody which is credited with re-energising the movement just as it seemed to be losing steam.