 Hostilities continued to worsen, with al-Nusra's leader, Abu Mohammed al-Julani, claiming in a 2014 interview that he saw no end to the conflict.In May 2013, the leader of al-Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri, sent a secret letter to al-Baghdadi in the hopes of quelling tensions between their two groups.The letter, dated 23 May 2013, asserts al-Qaeda's dominance and names al-Suri as al-Zawahiri's representative and delegate in Syria.