Luis Diaz: Liverpool footballer's father freed by captors 12 days after kidnapping

Luis Diaz's father has been released, almost two weeks after he was kidnapped by a rebel group in Columbia. According to local reports, Luis Manuel Diaz was released by guerrillas from the National Liberation Army (ELN).

He was taken hostage on October 28 when he was driving with his wife Cilenis Marulanda, who was rescued within hours by police after roadblocks were set up.

The kidnapping of Luis Manuel Diaz has thrown a wrench in the government's peace talks with the ELN, which were renewed last year in the goal of ending the ELN's role in Colombia's 60-year conflict, which has killed at least 450,000 people. In August, the two sides agreed to a six-month cease-fire.

Local news stations showed Diaz's father descending from a helicopter at an airstrip in Valledupar, Colombia's Cesar province.

The government's negotiating delegation at peace negotiations with the ELN said in a statement that while they rejoiced Diaz's release and that he was unharmed, the kidnapping "should never have happened."