Extremist group fighting Syria government, al-Nusra front pledged on Wednesday allegiance to al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri in an audio message, as it distanced itself from al-Qaeda in Iraq.

Extremist group fighting Syria government, al-Nusra front pledged on Wednesday allegiance to al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri in an audio message, as it distanced itself from al-Qaeda in Iraq.

"The sons of Nusra Front pledge allegiance to Sheikh Ayman al-Zawahiri," the head of the extremist group Abu Mohammed al-Jawlani said in an audio message.

But, he added, "we were not consulted" on an announcement by Al-Qaeda in Iraq chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi on Tuesday of a merger with Al-Nusra Front.

"We inform you that neither the Nusra command nor its consultative council, nor its general manager were aware of this announcement. It reached them via the media and if the speech is authentic, we were not consulted," Jawlani said.

He added that the group would not be changing its flag or its "behavior."
"Al-Nusra Front will not change its flag, though we will continue to be proud of the flag of the Islamic State of Iraq, of those who carry it and those who sacrifice themselves and shed their blood for it," said Jawlani, acknowledging he had fought in Iraq alongside the Al-Qaeda's Iraqi branch.

"We reassure our brothers in Syria that Nusra Front's behavior will remain faithful to the image you have come to know, and that our allegiance (to Al-Qaeda) will not affect our politics in any way," he added.

Jawlani's comments came a day after al-Qaeda in Iraq made an announcement that Nusra was part of its network.