'Hotel Rwanda' hero arrested on terror charges, say police

KIGALI, Rwanda (AP) — Paul Rusesabagina, portrayed in the film “Hotel Rwanda” as a hero who saved the lives of more than 1,200 people from the country's 1994 genocide, has been arrested by the Rwandan government on terror charges, police announced on Monday.

A well-known critic of President Paul Kagame, Rusesabagina had been living outside Rwanda since 1996 and police did not say where he was apprehended. He had been living in Belgium and then in Texas in the U.S.

In handcuffs and a facemask, Rusesabagina, 66, was shown to the press in Rwanda's capital, Kigali, on Monday by police. He has not yet been formally charged in court.

“Through international cooperation, the Rwanda Bureau of Investigation wants to inform the general public that Paul Rusesabagina has been arrested,” police said in a statement Monday.

“Rusesabagina is suspected to be the founder, leader, sponsor and member of violent, armed, extremist terror outfits including the Rwanda Movement for Democratic Change (MRCD) operating out of various places in the region and abroad,” police said.

There was an international arrest warrant for Rusesabagina to answer charges of serious crimes including terrorism, arson, kidnap and murder, perpetrated against unarmed, innocent Rwandan civilians on Rwandan territory, police said. Police told the media in Kigali that investigations against Rusesabagina will continue and more information will be released about his alleged activities.

Rusesabagina has previously denied the government's charges that he financially supports Rwandan rebels.

Rusesabagina has been a prominent critic of Kagame’s government, calling it a dictatorship and urging Western countries to press the government to respect human rights.

Government supporters reject Rusesabagina’s...