Obama rejects Syria military intervention

Obama said President Bashar al-Assad would fall, as other dictators had fallen, but the US would try to achieve this by working to isolate Syria.

More deadly clashes were reported across Syria on Tuesday where activists claim 35 people were killed.

The UN says more than 7,500 people have died as a result of the violence in Syria over the past 12 months, leaving the international community divided on how to end the violence.

Obama rejected a comparison to Libya, saying Syria was more complicated.

In Libya, where rebels backed by Nato air strikes ousted longtime leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi after an uprising lasting several months, the US had "the full co-operation of the region," the president said.

On Monday, US Senator John McCain - Obama's opponent in the 2008 presidential election - called for US air strikes against Syrian forces.

Whilst violence is still rampant across Syria, The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Syrian Red Crescent are still being prevented from entering Baba Amr.

The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) has said that more than 1,500 people, mostly women and children from in and around Homs, have crossed the border into Lebanon to escape the violence.

The UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos is due to arrive in Damascus on Wednesday.