Eman al-Obeidy, the Libyan woman who grabbed the world's attention this spring when she accused Muammar Gaddafi's security forces of gang-raping her, arrived in Malta this evening on a United Nations flight from Benghazi.

She will eventually head to a processing center in Europe before leaving for a final destination, which is likely to be the United States. .

Al-Obeidy is being accompanied by a U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees representative. 

She had fled Libya and was in Qatar awaiting resettlement as a refugee when she was sent back to Benghazi, Libya on Thursday.

Al-Obeidy told CNN in the hours leading to her deportation, armed guards were posted outside her hotel room, preventing a representative from the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees from helping her. The U.N. agency had prepared papers for her departure from Qatar to begin a new life. 

She said a group of men and women beat her, her father and her sister in a parking lot, and they were beaten some more at the airport.

The United States said it was "disappointed" by al-Obeidy's expulsion, which it said was "a breach of humanitarian norms."

Amnesty International called the deportation "outrageous," saying the action by the Qatari government "is a serious breach by Qatar of its international obligations."

The United Nations operates a regular flight between Benghazi and Malta. Al-Obeidy is expected to leave Malta early tomorrow (Monday).