Obama to give TV interviews on Syria strike

US President Barack Obama will hold interviews Monday with six major American television networks in another push to make the case to the public for a military strike on Syria over its alleged use of chemical weapons.

Obama, who returned Friday night from the G20 summit in Russia, will tape his interviews with anchors of ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, CNN and Fox News, Xinhua cited the White House as saying.

The TV networks will air the interviews Monday night ahead of a planned televised speech to the nation that Obama will make from the White House Tuesday, in another push to win support for his military plan on Syria.

Obama announced Aug 31 that he has decided to launch a limited military strike against Syria, but will first seek congressional authorisation for the action.

He said the strike is aimed at "punishing" Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for perpetrating a chemical weapons attack Aug 21 outside Damascus, in which the US claims 1,429 people, including 426 children, were killed.

However, Obama is facing an uphill battle in both chambers of Congress as public opinion polls have shown that most Americans are against military intervention in Syria. Many allies, like Britain, have refused to join the US in the action.