A Saudi man who fought for six months in Syria before surrendering to the authorities has denounced extremists groups fighting in that country as misguided and divided.

In an interview broadcast Wednesday on a local television channel, Sulaiman Al-Subaie, 25, who fought for the Al-Qaeda-linked group, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), said the Islamic groups in Syria were fighting each other and not the regime of Bashar Assad.

"The situation in Syria is not as portrayed in the media," Al-Subaie said. "What is amazing is that Saudis are killing fellow Saudis in the fighting between the ISIL and Al-Nusra Front."

He said most of the fighters are between the ages of 20 and 30, and usually involved in operations on the front lines. They receive their orders while at their camps, but no details are provided, he said.

He said most of the ISIL leaders are from Iraq and Syria. They lure young Saudi men to fight in Syria under the pretext of jihad.

"They repeatedly asked me to make a video to urge young Saudi men to come and fight in Syria, but I declined," he said.

He said that many of the groups brand each other, the Saudi government and certain preachers, as unbelievers.

Al-Subaie said that the death of his brother, a fighter, as well as "pictures of dead Syrian children" had prompted him to join the war in August last year.

"I went to Qatar, from where I traveled to Turkey" before being led into Syria with the help of a smuggler.

He wanted to join Al-Nusra Front but "on my arrival, I was told that I have now become a member of the ISIL," he said.

Al-Subaie said he decided to quit the group after realizing that his Twitter account, followed by thousands in Saudi Arabia, was being used to broadcast "messages inciting violence" against rulers and preachers in Saudi Arabia.

He fled back to Turkey and returned to the Kingdom.

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah last month decreed jail terms of up to 20 years for citizens who travel to fight abroad, as the Kingdom ramps up efforts to deter young Saudis from becoming fighters.

There are no official figures on the number of Saudis who have joined the ranks of fighters in Syria, but they are estimated at several hundred.

In 2011, Riyadh set up special courts to try dozens of Saudis and foreigners accused of belonging to Al-Qaeda or of being involved in a wave of attacks that swept the country from 2003.

The Interior Ministry urged those wanting to "repent" to turn themselves in at Saudi embassies, saying they would be repatriated and reunited with their families.

The ISIL, disavowed by Al-Qaeda chief Ayman Al-Zawahri, has been accused by rebels battling Assad's troops of seeking to consolidate power rather than fight the regime, and even of serving the regime's interests.

Fierce clashes between ISIL and opposition fighters broke out in early January, after accusations that the radical group was abusing both civilians and rival rebel forces.

The fighting has left hundreds dead and created openings for regime advances in some areas.