File photograph of Liverpool footballer Luis Diaz© X (previously Twitter)
A unit of the ELN guerrilla group was behind the kidnapping in Colombia final weekend of Liverpool winger Luis Diaz’s mother and father, the federal government stated Thursday. The kidnapping of Luis Manuel Diaz and Cilenis Marulanda — she was rescued the identical day — “was perpetrated by a unit belonging to the ELN,” a authorities official stated on X, previously Twitter, including: “we demand the ELN instantly free” the lacking man. The ELN and the federal government of leftist President Gustavo Petro are within the midst of peace negotiations that embody a six-month ceasefire, at present in impact. Colombia and Liverpool striker Diaz’s mother and father had been taken Saturday by armed males on bikes at a gasoline station of their residence city of Barrancas within the northern La Guajira division. Marulanda was rescued in Barrancas hours later.
Colombian authorities have stated there was no ransom demand.
“We demand the ELN instantly free Luis Manuel Diaz,” stated Thursday’s assertion signed by Otty Patino, the top of the federal government delegation in peace talks with the ELN.
He added it was the ELN’s “accountability to ensure his life and integrity.”
Lawyer Normal Francisco Barbosa has stated the older Diaz “could possibly be” in Venezuela, with out giving additional particulars.
The ELN has not claimed accountability for the kidnapping.
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