April 22 (UPI) -- A contingent of villagers in Vietnam released 19 government officials they had been holding captive, ending a week-long standoff over land rights.
The dispute centered on ownership a 145-acre plot of land in Dong Tam, a village 25 miles south of the capital Hanoi. Vietnam's communist government technically claims ownership of all land, though it permits individuals to enter into quasi-ownership agreements with the government.