{"id":345144,"date":"2023-11-09T19:42:04","date_gmt":"2023-11-09T20:42:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=345144"},"modified":"2023-11-09T22:01:32","modified_gmt":"2023-11-09T22:01:32","slug":"kidnappers-mistake-in-abducting-liverpool-stars-dad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=345144","title":{"rendered":"Kidnappers 'mistake' in abducting Liverpool star's dad"},"content":{"rendered":"

The father of Liverpool<\/a> striker Luis D\u00edaz<\/a> was released by members of a guerrilla group who kidnapped him in northern Colombia, the government announced, ending a 12-day ordeal for the family.<\/p>\n

Luis Manuel D\u00edaz\u2019s kidnapping on October 28 in the small town of Barrancas had quickly drawn international attention and appeals for his release.<\/p>\n

The younger Diaz pleaded for his father \u2019s freedom after scoring for Liverpool in a Premier League soccer match, revealing a T-shirt saying \u201cFreedom for Papa\u201d in Spanish.<\/p>\n

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The release by members of the National Liberation Army, or ELN \u2014 which has called the kidnapping a mistake \u2014 was announced by the government delegation that currently is in peace negotiations with the guerrilla group.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

A photo later released by Colombia's Catholic Church, which helped facilitate the release, showed the elder D\u00edaz wearing a Chicago Bulls baseball cap, a grey shirt and a jacket.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese really have been quite the agonising days, with great uncertainty," Alfonso Diaz, a cousin of Luis Manuel Diaz, told The Associated Press. "But always with faith placed in God for the best outcome because our family does not deserve an attack of this magnitude.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was initially unclear who carried out the abduction. But Colombia\u2019s government announced last week that it had information that D\u00edaz was kidnapped by an ELN unit. The ELN later acknowledged the kidnapping, saying it was a mistake and that the group\u2019s top leadership had ordered the elder D\u00edaz\u2019s release.<\/p>\n

An ELN statement Sunday said that the planned release was hampered by military deployments in northern Colombia and that it couldn\u2019t guarantee a safe release under those circumstances. The Colombian military said Monday that it was shifting its positions to facilitate a release.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Both parents of Liverpool\u2019s D\u00edaz had been kidnapped by armed men on motorcycles at a gas station in Barrancas. But the footballer\u2019s mother, Cilenis Marulanda, was rescued within hours by police who set up roadblocks around the town of 40,000 people, which is near Colombia\u2019s border with Venezuela.<\/p>\n

After the kidnapping, special forces had been deployed in the area to search for Diaz\u2019s father in a mountain range that straddles both countries and is covered by cloud forest. Police also had offered a $48,000 reward for information leading to him.<\/p>\n

Diaz\u2019s father was received by representatives of the United Nations and the Catholic Church in the area of the mountain range Serran\u00eda del Perij\u00e1, where he received primary medical care.<\/p>\n

He was then taken by helicopter to Valledupar, a community about 56 miles (90 kilometres) from Barrancas, his native town in the northeastern part of the country.<\/p>\n

The 26-year-old striker is one of the most talented players on Colombia\u2019s national team. He joined Liverpool in a deal worth $105 million.<\/p>\n

The team tweeted it was \u201cdelighted by the news\u201d of Diaz\u2019s father release. The forward was included in the starting line-up for the team\u2019s Europa League match against Toulouse.<\/p>\n

Colombia\u2019s Ombudsman\u2019s Office estimates that between January 2022 and September 2023, armed groups carried out 160 kidnappings and 121 releases.<\/p>\n

After Diaz\u2019s father was released, the government\u2019s peace talks delegation demanded in a statement that the ELN immediately free anyone it still \u201chas in captivity\u201d and end its practice of kidnappings.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is unsustainable to argue, from an ethical point of view, that trading with human beings is legal, even under the conditions of an armed conflict,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The father of Liverpool striker Luis D\u00edaz was released by members of a guerrilla group who kidnapped him in northern Colombia, the government announced, ending […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":345146,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345144"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=345144"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345144\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":345149,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345144\/revisions\/345149"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/345146"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=345144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=345144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=345144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}