Syria's President Bashar al-Assad "should be tried"

Hamza al-Khatib's death has become a rallying point for anti-government protesters

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad should face trial at a UN court over the "brutal" treatment of his people, Australia's foreign minister says.

Kevin Rudd said incidents such as the alleged torture and murder of a 13-year-old boy by security forces had robbed Mr Assad of any legitimacy.

President Assad invited the boy's family to meet him and promised an inquiry, state television said.

Activists say more than 1,000 people have died in weeks of protests.

The 13-year-old boy, Hamza al-Khatib, has become an icon of the anti-government uprising in Syria, says the BBC's Jim Muir.

Activists say he was detained by security forces and tortured to death, while the authorities insist he was shot dead during a demonstration.

Mr Rudd called it a "brutal act" and accused Mr Assad of taking "large-scale directed action" against his own people.

"I believe it is high time that the Security Council now consider a formal referral of President Assad to the International Criminal Court," said Mr Rudd.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the boy's death showed the regime was deaf to the voice of its people.