Clinton welcomes 'overwhelming' consensus on Syria

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Friday that the UN General Assembly has shown an "overwhelming international consensus" to demand the Syrian regime end its bloody crackdown.

The UN General Assembly demanded an immediate halt to the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's brutal crackdown on dissent, in a strongly worded resolution adopted on Thursday by a 137-12 vote.

The vote "demonstrated an overwhelming international consensus that the bloody assaults must end," Clinton said at a press conference with EU Foreign Policy chief Cathy Ashton.

"In the face of this global condemnation the regime in Damascus, however, appears to be escalating its assaults on civilians, and those who are suffering cannot get access to the humanitarian assistance they need and deserve," she said.

"So we will keep working to pressure and isolate the regime, to support the opposition and to provide relief to the people of Syria."

Clinton recalled she will attend a "Friends of Syria" conference on February 24 in Tunis, "where a number of nations will work to intensify pressure on the regime and to mobilize the humanitarian relief that is needed."

"We also hope to coordinate efforts to enable a Syrian-led transition before the regime's actions tear the country apart. We're looking for an inclusive democratic process," Clinton said.

In the General Assembly, China, Russia and Iran opposed the text put forward by Egypt and other Arab states, and supported by Western powers, that condemned "widespread and systematic violations of human rights" by Assad's regime.

Seventeen nations abstained from the vote, which came just days after Russia and China locked diplomatic arms and used their veto power to derail a similar resolution in the UN Security Council for the second time.

While the resolution will increase the pressure on Assad, it is non-bin! ding and does not carry the same weight as a Security Council resolution.