Not all that surprising considering Zawahiri has previously snubbed ISIS and designated al-Nusra Front as al-Qaeda’s official Syrian branch.

Via Times of Israel:

Al-Qaeda says it is severing all ties with one of its purported branches fighting in Syria and that it is distancing itself from the rebel infighting in the civil war.

Al-Qaeda’s general command said in an Internet statement early Monday that it’s cutting off the group known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, led by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, after it disobeyed orders from the terror network’s leader, Ayman al-Zawahri.

The authenticity of the statement could not independently be verified, but it was posted on websites commonly used by al-Qaeda.

Al-Zawahri last May ordered the Islamic State to operate independently from a rival al-Qaeda branch in Syria, the Nusra Front, led by Abu Mohammed al-Golani. Al-Baghdadi rejected al-Zawahri’s orders and unsuccessfully sought to merge the two branches.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported late Saturday that the ISIL killed 26 people, including the commander of a rival rebel group, the al-Tawheed Brigades, in a twin car-bombing near the group’s base in Aleppo.

A top Saudi salafist cleric in Syria is calling on ISIS members to defect to al-Nusra and the Islamic Front.

Via LWJ:

Not long after al Qaeda’s general command yesterday disowned the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham (ISIS), a popular Saudi cleric who relocated to Syria late last year took to his social media sites to call on ISIS members to defect.

Sheikh Abdallah Muhammad al Muhaysini played a leading role in the mediation efforts between ISIS and other rebel groups, which have been increasingly fighting among themselves. But now that those efforts have failed, Muhaysini says on his popular Twitter feed, ISIS members should defect to the Al Nusrah Front and the Islamic Front.

The Al Nusrah Front is now al Qaeda’s only official branch inside Syria. The al Qaeda-linked Ahrar al Sham is one of the most powerful groups within the Islamic Front, which is a coalition of rebel groups. Abu Khalid al Suri, Zawahiri’s main representative in Syria, is a senior leader in Ahrar al Sham.

Muhaysini’s call for ISIS defectors has quickly become popular on Twitter, with many online jihadists and their supporters retweeting his message. This is not surprising, as the Saudi has a substantial online presence. His Twitter feed currently has almost 280,000 followers.

Worth noting the Obama administration has been reaching out to the Islamic Front.