US President-elect Barack Obama will announce his national security team, including Hillary Clinton as secretary of state, at an event Monday morning, US media and Democratic sources said Sunday.

The announcement will be made at a press conference in Chicago, Illinois, around 10:40 a.m. eastern time (1540 GMT) of December 1.

Obama is also expected to finally confirm that he is keeping Defense Secretary Robert Gates in his current post.

He plans to name retired Marine Gen. Jim Jones as his national security adviser at the White House.

Two sources close to the president-elect's team said Obama will also nominate Susan Rice as United Nations ambassador, Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano as homeland security secretary, and Eric Holder as attorney general.

Retiring Republican John Warner, a veteran member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, released a statement Saturday night praising Obama's planned announcement.

"The triumvirate of Gates, Clinton and Jones to lead Obama's 'national security team' instills great confidence at home and abroad; and, further strengthens the growing respect for the president-elect's courage and ability to exercise sound judgment in selecting the 'best and the brightest' to implement our nation's security policies," Warner said.

(Xinhua News Agency December 1, 2008)