Leader of the global terror group al-Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri called for unity widening divisions with a rival extremists fighting in Syria.

Leader of the international terrorist group al-Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri called for unity widening divisions with a rival extremists fighting in Syria.

In a new interview, which the SITE monitoring service dated to between February and April, Zawahiri suggested that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government may have ‘penetrated’ extremists groups in order to ‘sow sedition’.

The interview was released after the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) accused Al-Qaeda of having "deviated from the correct path."

"They have divided the ranks of the mujahideen (holy warriors) in every place," ISIL spokesman Abu Mohammed al-Adnani said in a statement posted on extremist forums.

Zawahiri rejected al-Adnani’s allegations as he said: “If I command you to fight your mujahideen brothers, do not obey me. If I command you to blow yourself up among your mujahideen brothers, do not obey me.”

"Our method is to focus on the Hubal (pre-Islamic pagan god) of the era, America, and its Crusader allies and the Zionists and their traitor agents, and to incite the Ummah (Muslim community) and rally it for jihad against them and leaving the side skirmishes," Zawahiri said in the interview.

"Our method is to preserve blood and avoid operations that could potentially shed the blood of others unjustly in marketplaces, residential areas, and even among the jihadi groups."

The infighting dates back to last year, when Zawahiri ordered ISIL to confine its activities to Iraq after it was accused of widespread abuses against Syrian civilians and rival rebels.

Zawahiri, who succeeded the late Osama bin Laden as leader of the global terror network in 2011, declared Al-Nusra Front to be the official Al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria.

Following that, fierce clashes took place between the ISIL from one side and the Nusra front and the other extremists groups from another side.