Liverpool star Luis Diaz (AP)
The Liverpool striker’s dad and mom had been kidnapped of their hometown of Barrancas close to the Venezuelan border final Saturday, however his mom was rescued hours later.
The head of Colombia’s ELN guerilla group on Saturday acknowledged the group was liable for final week’s abduction final week of the daddy of Liverpool footballer Luis Diaz, calling it a “mistake” and vowing to work towards his launch.
“The retention of Luis Diaz’s father by the Northern War Front was a mistake,” Antonio Garcia wrote on his Telegram channel.
“Lucho is a symbol of Colombia, that is how we in the ELN feel about him,” he added, calling Diaz by his nickname.
The Liverpool striker’s dad and mom had been kidnapped of their hometown of Barrancas close to the Venezuelan border final Saturday, however his mom was rescued hours later.
Authorities have blamed the kidnapping on an ELN unit and have launched a large seek for Diaz’s father, Luis Manuel Diaz.
The incident threatened to derail high-stakes peace negotiations between the insurgent group and leftist President Gustavo Petro, going down amid a six-month ceasefire.
On Wednesday, the ELN peace negotiators acknowledged to their authorities counterparts that its Northern War Front unit was holding Diaz’s father.
In his Telegram put up on Saturday, Garcia mentioned that ELN’s central command was overseeing efforts to set the footballer’s father free and had instructed its models to cooperate.
“We hope that the operational situation on the ground can be resolved, this is the guidance that the commanders have to expedite the release,” Garcia mentioned.
Local media have revealed an announcement purportedly from the Northern Front, through which the rebels clarify they’d kidnapped Diaz’s father for ransom and didn’t understand he was the daddy of the nation’s soccer star. The assertion couldn’t be independently verified.
Petro, a former city guerrilla himself, took workplace final August with the said objective of attaining “total peace” in a rustic ravaged by many years of preventing between the safety forces, leftist guerrillas, right-wing paramilitaries and drug gangs.
More than 38,000 folks have been kidnapped in Colombia through the years, primarily by teams elevating funds with ransom cash.
The ELN, one in all Colombia’s final acknowledged guerrilla teams, began as a leftist ideological motion in 1964 earlier than turning to crime — specializing in kidnapping, extortion, violent assaults and drug trafficking.
Over 240 folks had been detained in simply the primary 9 months of this yr by unlawful teams within the nation, 70 p.c greater than throughout the identical interval final yr, based on knowledge from the Ministry of Defense.
(This story has not been edited by News18 workers and is revealed from a syndicated news company feed – AFP)
Aditya MaheshwariAditya Maheshwari, Senior-Sub Editor, Sports at News18.com, wholeheartedly follows cricket and soccer and likewise experiences on different sports activities. Follow him @…Read More
Source: www.news18.com
