The leadership of Colombia's National Liberation Army (ELN) have assured Liverpool star Luis Diaz his father will soon be released.

ELN responded after Diaz made a statement pleading with his father's captors to let him go after he scored in Sunday's 1-1 draw at Luton Town.

ELN says a regional unit, the Northern War Front, kidnapped Luis Manuel from his home town of Barrancas last Saturday afternoon. Their statement was signed by the unit's leader, Commander Jose Manuel Martinez Quiroz.

It said: "On November 2, we informed the country of the decision to release Mr. Luis Manuel Díaz, father of the player Luis Díaz. From that date, we began the process to accomplish this as soon as possible. We are making efforts to avoid incidents with government forces.

"The area is still militarised, they are carrying out flyovers, disembarking troops, broadcasting and offering rewards as part of an intense search operation.

"This situation is not allowing for the execution of the release plan quickly and safely, where Mr. Luis Manuel Díaz is not at risk. If operations continue in the area, they will delay the release and increase the risks.

"We understand the anguish of the Díaz Marulanda family, to whom we say that we will keep our word to release him unilaterally, as soon as we have security guarantees for the development of the liberation operation."