One of Australia's most prominent jihadists has appeared in pictures purportedly showing him fighting in Syria - only in this case he's battling against the notorious Islamic State.
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In images that highlight the complex power struggles and hostilities among Islamic extremist fighters in the Middle East, Sheikh Abu Sulayman al-Muhajir appeared in images posted online on Wednesday said to show him fighting outside the city of Aleppo on behalf of Jabhat al-Nusra - al-Qaeda's approved subsidiary in Syria.
A former Sydney preacher, Sulayman - whose real name is Mostafa Mahamed - has been regarded as a senior player in Jabhat al-Nusra or JN since he travelled to Syria last year.
He is a member of the powerful group's Sharia council and has been a spokesman for the group.
But JN is the bitter rival of the Islamic State, whose Australian members and supporters have long derided Sulayman for being a spiritual leader rather than a combatant.
Former Sydneysider Khaled Sharrouf, who has become infamous through images of himself executing prisoners in Iraq and having his young son pose with a severed head in Syria, has repeatedly threatened Sulayman through social media.
In July, he accused Sulayman of being an "ASIO informant liar" and posted an image of an executed Iraqi prisoner with the words, "Inshaallah mustapha muhammad (abu sulayman al muhajir) ends up like this".
Now Sulayman has appeared in pictures on a Twitter feed affiliated with JN, crouching in a machine gun nest purportedly taking part in combat.
One post says: "Australian Shaykh ... defending Nusra positions in face of oncoming ISIS onslaught."
Another post states: "Sheikh Abu Sulayman al Australia on the frontlines defending Aleppo from the extremist ISIS criminals."
ISIS is one of the previous names for the Islamic State, which has become the most powerful anti-government militia in Syria and gone on to seize large parts of Iraq, carrying out brutal atrocities along the way.
Sharrouf and Sulayman have roots in extremist networks in Western Sydney.
JN and IS, likewise, have common roots in al-Qaeda. But they gradually split over the course of 2012 and 2013 amid a power struggle in which IS's leaders tried to impose their authority on JN.
That split has turned into a bloody feud, with the groups fighting many battles, costing thousands of lives, in Syria.
JN remains affiliated with the original al-Qaeda, whereas IS has been disowned by the group of Osama bin Laden.
