2023-11-09 18:48:31
The Colombian government said that National Liberation Army rebels released the father of Liverpool football striker Luis Diaz after he was held hostage in the north of the country about two weeks ago.
The kidnapping of Luis Manuel Diaz disrupted peace talks between the Colombian government and the National Liberation Army, which resumed last year in the hope of ending the group’s role in the 60-year-old conflict in Colombia that has claimed the lives of at least 450,000 people.
The two sides began a 6-month ceasefire in August. Local television stations showed Diaz’s father at an airstrip in the city of Baidobar, in the Colombian province of Cesar, after getting off a helicopter, in addition to pictures of family members crying over the news of his release.
Although striker Diaz remained in England and continued playing for Liverpool, where he scored the fatal equalizer against Luton Town last Sunday, he publicly expressed his suffering, calling on everyone to intervene to release his father.
Diaz lifted his shirt to reveal an undershirt with the words “Freedom for my father” written on it after scoring on Sunday.
Diaz joined Liverpool’s starting lineup that will face French club Toulouse in the European League later today.
Liverpool said, in a statement on the social networking platform X, formerly known as Twitter, “We are happy with the news of the safe return of Luis Diaz’s father and we thank everyone who participated in securing his release.”
The government delegation negotiating peace talks with the National Liberation Army said in a statement that Diaz’s father was fine but that the kidnapping “should never have happened.”
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