Rusesabagina was sentenced to 25 years in September 2021 for ties to a group opposed to Rwandan President Paul Kagame that has an armed wing.
Paul Rusesabagina, who was portrayed as a hero in the 1994 genocide film Hotel Rwanda, has arrived in Qatar after being released from prison in Rwanda over the weekend, a source with knowledge of the matter said Tuesday.
Rusesabagina, a permanent resident of the United States, was sentenced to 25 years in September 2021 for his ties to a group opposed to Rwandan President Paul Kagame that has an armed wing.
He was released Friday after his sentence was commuted after months of negotiations between Washington and Kigali.
Washington’s historically close ties to Rwanda have been strained by the detention of Rusesabagina and by US allegations, denied by Kigali, that Rwanda has sent troops to the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo and is supporting rebels there.
Rwanda has said Rusesabagina’s release is a result of a shared desire to restore relations between the US and Rwanda.
The 68-year-old former hotelier landed in Doha on Monday, according to an expert source.
He will return to the US from Doha, US officials have said.
Hotel Rwanda portrays Rusesabagina’s success in rescuing more than 1,000 people fleeing rampaging Hutus, including his family, during the 1994 genocide by sheltering them in the besieged hotel he managed in Kigali.
