Beirut , Lebanon ( CNN ) -- Seven Estonian cyclists kidnapped in northern Lebanon in March were released Thursday , the Lebanese Army said . All seven were in good health and will be taken to Beirut , the army said . They were found in the Bekaa Valley , the same area where they were abducted March 23 . Lebanese Interior Minister Marwan Charbel told the LBC channel that 9 people implicated in the abduction of the Estonians have been arrested so far . They include Lebanese suspects and people of other nationalities , he said . Officials did not say whether a ransom was paid . `` The main thing now is for our seven fellow countrymen to get home to their families and loved ones as quickly as possible , '' Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet said . The men were abducted by `` local criminals '' in the Bekaa Valley as they bicycled into northeastern Lebanon from Syria , police told CNN earlier . They then were handed over to an unknown group . The following month , the men pleaded for help in gaining their release . In a video , which was sent as a YouTube link in an e-mail to the Estonian foreign ministry , one of the cyclists reads in English from a statement calling on Lebanese officials and the leaders of Saudi Arabia , Jordan and France to do anything in their power to get them back home . After that , each of the other men makes a short plea for help . The same month , a statement was posted on a Lebanese news portal by a previously unknown group calling itself the Renaissance and Reform Movement , saying it had carried out the kidnappings . CNN 's Nada Husseini contributed to this report .
NEW : Four cyclists are arrested , Lebanon 's interior minister says . Estonian FM : The main thing is to get them home now . It is not clear if a ransom was paid . The cyclists are in good shape , the minister says .