The head of al-Qaeda in Syria has called for a ceasefire between opposition factions who have clashed for five days in the bloodiest bout of infighting since the revolt against President Bashar al-Assad began.
An audio recording from the leader of the powerful Nusra Front, who goes by the name Abu Mohammad al-Golani, also laid much of the blame for the fighting on an al-Qaeda splinter group known as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
While both groups have roots in the global network and welcome foreign fighters, the Nusra Front has cooperated more with other rebel groups and has largely avoided the power struggles that ISIL has faced since wresting control of many opposition-held areas from other groups.
"The (Muslim) nation was shocked to hear of the internal infighting between the jihadist factions in the past number of days. We believe in an Islam with competing factions but a number of treacherous sides have exploited the current situation to carry out Western plans or for personal gain. We see the majority of the current fighting as a sedition amongst Muslims," al-Golani said in his audio statement, published on Tuesday.
More than 274 people have been killed in the rebel-on-rebel clashes in Syria since they began on Friday, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition monitoring group.