Obama due to address nation on Libyan conflict

US President Barack Obama is to address the US on the conflict in Libya in a speech Monday at a military university in Washington, the White House said, dpa reported.

The 7:30 pm (0130 GMT Tuesday) speech at the National Defence University will "update the American people on the situation in Libya, including the actions we've taken with allies and partners to protect the Libyan people from the brutality of Moamer Gaddafi, the transition to NATO command and control, and our policy going forward," the White House said Friday.

The US-led military coalition that has been targeting Libya for the past week is set to hand over control of of all United Nations- mandated military operations in Libya to NATO.

NATO to take over completely from Libya coalition

NATO is planning to take control of all United Nations-mandated military operations against Libya - fully replacing the United States-led coalition that has carried out airstrikes so far, officials in Brussels said Friday, dpa reported.

Overnight, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the alliance had "taken on the responsibility for the no-fly zone, while the coalition still continues its activities."

On Friday, NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu told reporters that "NATO is actively considering whether to take on a broader role (...) Without prejudging the deliberations, we would expect a decision to take over all operations in the next few days."

While military command would strictly remain within NATO, Lungescu said an international conference in London on Tuesday would set "the wide political guidance" for action against Libya.