Syrian rebel leader pleads for outside help week on from earthquake

Former al-Nusra Front chief keen to show scale of crisis in Idlib province and play down past links to al-Qaida

A Syrian rebel leader with a $10m (8.3m) US government bounty on his head has appealed for urgent international aid to help the north-west province of Idlib after the earthquakes that have killed thousands and brought the last opposition-controlled area to its knees.

The United Nations needs to understand that it's required to help in a crisis," said Ahmed Hussein al-Shara, better known by the nom de guerre Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, amid a humanitarian crisis that had already reached critical levels in Idlib before the twin earthquakes last week.