LUIS Diaz’s dad will be released by his kidnappers, Colombian terrorist group Ejercito de Liberacion Nacional (ELN) has confirmed in a statement.
Luis Manuel Díaz Jimenez, 58, was taken hostage at gunpoint alongside his wife last Saturday.
Diaz’s mother, centre left, was rescued after the pair were kidnapped last week
The Liverpool player’s parents were abducted from the town of Barrancas in La Guajira, Colombia.
It comes after the left-wing ELN insurgent group was identified on Thursday as the group responsible for Diaz’s dad’s abduction.
Rebels later claimed responsibility and offered the Diaz family a glimmer of hope, promising to release Luis Manuel within “hours”.
ELN representative Juan Carlos Cuellar said: “We must recognise the situation you have heard in the news is true and the ELN is going to free Mr Diaz’s father as soon as possible.”
The terrorist group has now revealed it has begun the process to release Luis Manuel.
It said in a statement obtained by El Colombiano: “We salute Colombia and the Caribbean.
“We are in solidarity with the families who experience pain and tragedies due to unemployment, the criminal violence of paramilitarism and the abandonment of the State.
“The corruption of political clans is the main threat to the stability of the region.
“The Northern War Front has commands with economic missions and one of them carries out a privation of freedom, which, after being reported and verified that it is the priest of Lucho Diaz, is guided by his release because he is a family member of the great sportsman that we all love as Colombians.
“From that moment on, the release process begins and we want to avoid any incident. Firm in the search for the paths of peace, with the necessary transformations that the country needs. From the Caribbean.”
It comes following speculation the winger’s father had been taken to Venezuela.
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