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And while the guerrilla group has offered fresh hope, promising to free Mr Diaz within hours, a hostage negotiator who has worked in South America says the release of a hostage is the most complicated part of the process.<\/p>\n
Due to the high-profile nature of the kidnapping, ex-Scotland Yard officer Scott Walker believes a deal might be struck soon.<\/p>\n
He believes the peace delegation of the government negotiating with the ELN will want to resolve this "as soon as possible".<\/p>\n
But Walker said the "recovery and release" of Mr Diaz can be the most dangerous part of the operation. <\/p>\n
read more in luis diaz<\/h2>\n
He told The Sun: "Reaching an agreement is not the same as a safe release and recovery.<\/p>\n "Recovery and release can be the most dangerous as people relax and drop their guard. Yet it's not over until the hostages are safely back.<\/p>\n "The Colombian government will want this resolved as quickly and as safely as possible which is why theyre throwing lots of resources at it.<\/p>\n "The negotiators who engage with the ELN anyway about the peace process will be negotiating for the release of Diaz\u2019s father as part of that as well."<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n It's believed a woman known only as Patricia, the leader of one of the regional units of the rebel group,\u00a0was responsible for orchestrating the abduction.<\/p>\n A senior Northern War Front member known only as Mateo is said to be holding the 58-year-old hostage with foot soldiers under Patricia\u2019s orders.<\/p>\n Scott explained that the goal of kidnappers is usually to get "as much money as they can as quickly as they can".<\/p>\n But with infamous groups such as the ELN and Farc, there is often "some political concession or some political question" involved, he said. <\/p>\n The Colombian government is currently engaged in peace talks with ELN and there is a six- months ceasefire.<\/p>\n "Clearly this guerilla group they are looking somehow to put pressure on those peace talks and increase concessions or even sabotage them," Walker said.<\/p>\n Diaz's father was kidnapped on Saturday night by armed gunmen\u00a0at a gas<\/span> station in Barrancas, La Guajira.<\/p>\n The\u00a0Liverpool\u00a0star's mum, Cilenis Marulanda was also snatched-but was later found in Barrancas.<\/p>\n Authorities in Colombia have launched a massive police operation to locate the winger's missing dad and even\u00a0sniffer dogs were brought in to join the rescue efforts.<\/p>\n The country\u2019s army has already been joined by an elite police<\/span> anti-drugs commando squad specialising in complex jungle operations to find the 58-year-old.<\/p>\n Colombian\u00a0cops believe the lair of the kidnapping gang is located in the inhospitable jungle terrain of the Perija Mountains near the\u00a0Venezuelan\u00a0border.<\/p>\n Scott believes there is a possibility that the footballer's dad has been taken across the border to Venezuela – which could make his release even more complicated.<\/p>\n "The borders at that part of the world are pretty porous so it is a possibility he may be taken over to Venezuela," he said. <\/p>\n "It wouldn\u2019t be the first time that\u2019s happened and it would obviously make any rescue attempt more difficult if it\u2019s across the border."<\/p>\n He explained that even though threats of torture or even murder are commonplace tactics for guerrilla groups, he is confident Luis Diaz's dad is being treated well.<\/p>\n He said: "In the vast majority of cases the hostages will be reasonably looked after because it is in the hostage takers interest to do so because it helps with their bargaining power<\/span> and people arent going to pay a ransome for a corpse.<\/p>\n "Threats are a commonplace in kidnappings because it puts pressure on the family or the company to pay ransom or give concessions- it\u2019s a standard tactic."<\/p>\n Colombian President\u00a0Gustavo Petro\u00a0has revealed he has spoken to\u00a0Diaz\u00a0personally to reassure him about the government\u2019s efforts to free his dad.<\/p>\n He said on his official\u00a0X account: \u201cWe have spoken with Luis Diaz yesterday. We are working for the liberation of his father.\u201d<\/p>\n Earlier this week, Diaz\u00a0urged his Instagram followers\u00a0to "march for the release of Mane Diaz".<\/p>\n ELN is notorious for massacres and kidnappings is aligned with the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc).<\/p>\n Farc launched its guerrilla war against the Colombian government in 1964, after a peasant uprising that was crushed by the army.<\/p>\n Over the decades, the conflict drew in several leftist rebel groups, right-wing paramilitaries and drug gangs.<\/p>\n The Marxist-Leninist group, which in Colombia is called the ELN, was founded in 1964 by radical Catholics inspired by Cuba\u2019s communist revolution.<\/p>\n It was behind a car bombing in January 2019 at a police academy in Bogota which killed 21 people and injured 68 others, making it one of the deadliest attacks ever in the Colombian capital.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.thesun.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/newspress-collage-24617365-1699002324423.jpg\")
<\/picture>HOSTAGE HOPE <\/span><\/p>\nLuis Diaz's dad held by female guerrilla boss \u2026and could be freed 'in hours'<\/h3>\n
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<\/picture>SNATCH HELL <\/span><\/p>\nLuis Diaz's dad 'snatched by notorious guerrillas known for kidnap & massacres'<\/h3>\n
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