Mokdad clan clashes through press conference

The Mokdad clan that has kidnapped a group of Syrian opposition members and a Turkish citizen said on Thursday it had enough hostages and had "halted military operations", signalling it would stage no further abductions.
   
"At this moment, we halted all military operations on Lebanese territory. This announcement is because we have a sufficient number of Syrians linked to the Free Syrian Army," said Maher al-Meqdad, spokesman for the clan which is demanded the release of a kinsman held in Syria.

The Clan stressed that it is acting alone, and is not coordinating with any other side. The Mokdad’s reiterated that they are not against Syrian nationals in the country, but only against those who are in contact and coordinating with the Free Syrian Army.

During the press conference and as the Syrian MP Ahmad Shalash took to the center to speak, a clash erupted among the members of the family, bringing the transmission to an abrupt end. The clash began at the arrival of Loyalty to the Resistance bloc MP Ali Mokad.  

Commenting on the clash Maher Mokdad said that it was caused by a “third party”.  "There are those with grudges against the withdrawal of weapons licenses and our announcement of the halting of all military operations” he said.

The Mokdad clan earlier announced on Thursday that the release of the Turkish hostage Aydn Tufan hinges on that of Hassan Mokdad.   

Following its meeting with Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour, the clan reconfirmed that Saudi and Qatari citizens in Lebanon are like "family”, stressing that its target is “the Free Syrian Army and Turkey”.    

Abou Ali Mokdad voiced surprise that Mansour has asked about the Turkish citizen but overlooked Lebanese national Hassan Mokdad who was kidnapped in Damascus.

In those regards, A delegation from the Mokdad family headed to the Lebanese Red Cross Headquarters to sign a negotiations memorandum with the ICRC for the release of Hassan.