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Liverpool star Luis Diaz's dad was kidnapped by guerrilla army terrorists, according to the Colombian government.
Diaz Sr has now missing for the last five days. Both he and Diaz's mum, Cilenis Marulanda, were abducted last week, but she was later released while he remained in captivity.
A statement issued on Thursday (November 2) announced he's being held by the National Liberation Army (ELN), the largest leftist group of its kind in the South American country.
It read: "The delegation of the National Government at the peace talks with the National Liberation Army, ELN, hereby informs the public that:
"1. Today we have had official knowledge that the kidnapping perpetrated last October 28, in Barrancas, department of La Guajira, of which Luis Manuel Diaz and Cilenis Marulanda, father and mother of the soccer player Luis Fernando Diaz Marulanda, were victims, was perpetrated by a unit belonging to the ELN. Although Mrs. Marulanda was released a few hours later, the player's father has been kidnapped for five days.
"2. As the delegation of the National Government for the peace talks with the ELN, we express our full solidarity with Luis Díaz, his family members, the whole country and the millions of followers of the player around the world.
"3. To the ELN we demand the immediate release of Mr. Luis Manuel Diaz, and we remind them that it is their entire responsibility to guarantee his life and integrity.
"4. We remind the ELN that kidnapping is a criminal practice, in violation of International Humanitarian Law, and that it is their duty in the development of the current peace process, not only to stop carrying it out, but also to eliminate it forever.
"5. As part of the development of the ceasefire agreement, our delegation will present this case to the Monitoring and Verification Mechanism in force, and will carry out all the necessary steps to ensure that the ELN is able to comply with the ceasefire agreement."
The ELN, which was founded in 1964 following the civil war, is one of the most powerful insurgent groups in Colombia. They've been engaged in on-off peace talks with the government since 2018 – which were halted after a car bomb killed 21 people outside a police academy in Bogota in January 2019.
They're estimated to have between 2,500 and 3,000 members, led by 67-year-old military commander Eliecer Herlinto Chamorro Acosta, better known as Antonio Garcia.
He, like many other senior ELN figures, no longer resides in Colombia and is believed to live in either Cuba or Venezuela. Their illegal activities also include mining gold and trafficking drugs.
More to follow.
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