LUIS Diaz’s mum fought back tears today as she urged her husband’s kidnappers to release him from his eight-day ordeal.
Cilenis Marulanda made her impassioned plea as she took part in a second march to demand Luis Manuel Diaz’s freedom.
SuppliedLiverpool’s Diaz (L) with his mum and dad Luis, who remains captive[/caption]
She said, with her eyes closed before breaking down and being hugged by a relative beside her: “I want them to release him now, that the people who are keeping him free him now back to me, because we want to have him back home.”
Luis Manuel Díaz Jimenez, 58, was taken hostage at gunpoint alongside his wife last Saturday at a petrol station.
The kidnap by communist ELN rebels is believed to have been masterminded by a 40-year-old female fighter called Patricia.
The horror meant Diaz has missed Liverpool’s last two games.
Colombian authorities have offered a reward of $200,000,000 Peso (£40,600) for Luis Diaz’s return.
The kidnap sparked outrage in Colombia, where Luis Diaz is immensely popular and plays for the national team.
CCTV footage showed the Díazes being followed by men on motorbikes in their hometown of Barrancas, in the northern province of La Guajira.
Gunmen then accosted the couple at a petrol station, leaving the mother, before police closed in.
Police have been combing the mountainous Serranía del Perijá area near the Venezuelan border for Diaz during a frantic week-long hunt.
On Friday, Colombian authorities sa
AFPColombian authorities had offered a reward of $200,000,000 Peso (£40,600) for his return[/caption]