Luis Diaz's father released by captors

Colombia's National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrillas have freed the father of Liverpool footballer Luis Diaz, after kidnapping him in the country's north nearly two weeks ago, the government said.

Local television channels showed Diaz's father at an airstrip in the city of Valledupar in Colombia's Cesar province after he descended from a helicopter.

Diaz and his wife Cilenis Marulanda were taken by armed men as they were driving in La Guajira province on 28 October. Marulanda was freed within hours.

Diaz made an emotional plea for his father's return after coming off the bench to score a late equaliser for Liverpool at Luton recently, lifting his shirt to display the message 'Libertad para Papa' ('Freedom for dad’).

The ELN said a week ago it would free Diaz but his liberation was delayed amid a back-and-forth between the group and the government. The rebels said military operations were impeding liberation efforts, which the army denied.

The kidnapping of Diaz has disrupted the government's peace talks with the ELN, which restarted last year in hopes of ending the group's part in Colombia's 60-year conflict, which has killed at least 450,000 people.

The two sides began a six-month ceasefire in August.

The government's negotiating delegation at peace talkswith ELN said in a statement it celebrated the liberation and that Diaz was safe and sound, but that the kidnapping "should never have happened."

"The current process with the ELN has advanced like no other until today. Regardless, our delegation considers that the kidnapping of Luis Manuel Diaz has placed our dialogue in acritical situation and because of it, the time has come to take decisions to eliminate kidnapping," the statement said.