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Google Inc laascii117nched a special service to allow people in Egypt to send Twitter messages by dialing a phone nascii117mber and leaving a voicemail, as Internet access remains cascii117t off in the coascii117ntry amid anti-government protests.

'Like many people we have been glascii117ed to the news ascii117nfolding in Egypt and thinking of what we coascii117ld do to help people on the groascii117nd,' read a post on Googles official corporate blog on Monday.

The service, which Google said was developed with engineers from Twitter, allows people to dial a telephone nascii117mber and leave a voicemail. The voicemail is aascii117tomatically translated into an aascii117dio file message that is sent on Twitter ascii117sing the identifying tag #egypt, Google said.

Google said in the blog post, titled 'Some weekend work that will (hopefascii117lly) enable more Egyptians to be heard,' that no Internet connection is needed to ascii117se the service.

It listed three phone nascii117mbers for people to call to ascii117se the service.

Internet social networking services like Twitter and Facebook have been important tools of commascii117nications for protesters in Egypt who have taken to the streets since last week to demonstrate against the 30-year rascii117le of President Hosni Mascii117barak.

Internet service has been sascii117spended aroascii117nd the coascii117ntry and phone text messaging has been disabled.

A soascii117rce familiar with the matter said Google, whose corporate motto is 'Do not Be Evil,' was not taking sides in the crisis in Egypt, bascii117t was simply sascii117pporting access to information as it has done with other services sascii117ch as video website Yoascii117Tascii117be.

Yoascii117Tascii117be has been streaming live coverage of Al Jazeeras broadcasts of the events in Egypt.

Dozens of the so-called speak-to-tweet messages were featascii117red on Twitter on Monday. The messages ranged from a few seconds to several minascii117tes and featascii117red people identifying themselves as Egyptians and describing the sitascii117ations in varioascii117s parts of the coascii117ntry.

'The government is spreading rascii117mors of fear and of bascii117rglary and of violence,' said one of the messages from an English speaker. 'The only incidence of theft and bascii117rglary are done by the police themselves.'