WASHINGTON - Paul Rusesabagina was released from a Rwandan prison on Friday, after his sentence was commuted following intense diplomacy by the United States.
Rusesabagina, a US permanent resident, was accompanied by a US embassy official as he was moved from prison to the residence of Qatar's ambassador in Kigali late on Friday, according to two senior Biden administration officials who briefed reporters in Washington.
Rusesabagina was sentenced in September 2021 to 25 years for his ties to a group opposed to Rwandan President Paul Kagame, who has an armed wing.
The Rwandan government announced earlier on Friday it was commuting Rusesabagina's sentence.
Rusesabagina will be in Rwanda for a couple of days before he can travel to Doha and then to the United States, the officials said.
One of the US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that there was no concession made by us as the government. I think of this one much more as a series of steps that have been worked out with the US government, the Rwandan government and of course Paul himself. Washington's historically close ties with Rwanda have been strained by the case and the US allegations, denied by Kigali, that Rwanda has sent troops into the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo and supports rebels there.
Stephanie Nyombayire, a spokesman for Rwandan President Paul Kagame, tweeted that the release was the result of a shared desire to reset the US-Rwanda relationship.