Twitter account USAbilArasby, which posted first entry today, will be used to spread American foreign policy message

Guardian

Hoping to widen the audience for its mini-pronouncements of American policy amid growing unrest in the Middle East, the US state department has begun tweeting in Arabic.

Its first entry into Arabic language micro-blogging appeared on Twitter today, saying that Washington recognises the "historic role" of social media in the Arab world. "We want to be in your conversation," it said.

The next posts reiterated Barack Obamas stance that only Egyptians can decide their future and summarised Vice-President Joe Bidens phone call on Tuesday to his Egyptian counterpart, Omar Suleiman.

The Twitter account is "USAbilAraby", which means "USA in Arabic". It had 40 followers within hours of appearing.