Five African reporters who had been taken hostage by a militia in the eastern Congo had been released. The militiamen took the hostages after their leader was arrested by peacekeepers. After the hostages were released, a UN spokesman said the militia was allowed to keep 270 bicycles its men had stolen--- a belated "ransom" of sorts. The bicycles are part of an weapons exchange program. Militiamen who turn in weapons can receive a bicycle in exchange. The program makes sense since bicycles and weapons are both high-value items.