Obama attacks support for child-killing 'tyrant' Assad

Straining for a solution to Syria's civil war, President Barack Obama on Monday said the United States is willing to work with Russia, as well as Iran to achieve a "managed transition" to remove Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad from power.

Syria cannot "return to the pre-war status quo," Obama declared during his annual address to the United Nations General Assembly.

The president's remarks underscore the tensions between the US and Russia, Assad's strongest ally.

Assad's future was expected to be a top issue during a rare face-to-face meeting late Monday between Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Putin was to address the UN General Assembly after Obama.

He was expected to argue that Assad's military is the most capable force for fighting the Islamic State — the extremist group with key strongholds in Syria and Iraq — and therefore needs to be strengthened.

Obama rejected Putin's continued support for Assad, saying that simply arguing that the "alternative is surely worse" is not a solution.

Obama also took the podium to denounce those who support leaders like Assad, accusing him of slaughtering children and adding that bringing about an end to the four-year civil war means Assad cannot stay in office.

The US leader also said that Assad responded to peaceful protests with repression and killing and wouldn't be able to satisfactorily bring peace to the nation.

"We're told that such retrenchment is required to beat back disorder, that it's the only way to stamp out terrorism or prevent foreign meddling," he said.

"In accordance with this logic, we should support tyrants like Bashar al-Assad who drops barrel bombs to massacre innocent children, because the alternative is surely worse."

Obama called the situation in Syria "an assault on all our humanity."