US will continue to support Syrian opposition-Clinton

U. S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the U.S. was dedicated to working with Syrian opposition forces whether or not Russia was on board.

She made the comments on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Russia.

Clinton said she had made the case for increasing pressure on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, but had come away pessimistic about the chances of closing the gap before the U.N. General Assembly this month.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) US SECRETARY OF STATE HILLARY CLINTON SAYING:

"There's no point in passing a resolution with no teeth because we've seen time and time again that Assad will ignore it and keep attacking his own people."

(SOUNDBITE) (English) US SECRETARY OF STATE HILLARY CLINTON SAYING:

"We haven't seen eye to eye with Russia on Syria, that may continue, and if it does continue, then we will work with like-minded states to support the Syrian opposition to hasten the day when Assad falls. And.help prepare Syria for a democratic future and to help it get back on it's feet again."

On her 11-day Asia trip, Clinton sought to push for more forceful international steps on Syria, greater unity over Iran's nuclear programme and a multilateral mechanism for China to deal with maritime territorial disputes with its Southeast Asian neighbours.

But she appeared to gain little traction with either the Chinese and Russian leadership, both of which restated their firm opposition to what they see as U.S. meddling.