[Infowarrior] - Obama to nominate Brennan as CIA head

[Richard Forno]

7 January 2013 Last updated at 07:26 ET

Obama to nominate Brennan as CIA head

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-20934638?print=true

US President Barack Obama is to nominate John Brennan as the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, White House officials have said.

If confirmed, Mr Brennan will replace Gen David Petraeus, who resigned last year after admitting to an affair.

Chuck Hagel is to be put forward as the president's next defence secretary, replacing Leon Panetta.

Both appointments are expected to be formally announced later on Monday and must be confirmed by the Senate.

Mr Brennan, a CIA veteran, is currently Mr Obama's chief counter-terrorism adviser. He was heavily involved in the planning of the 2011 raid that killed Osama bin Laden.

'Full trust'

Although put forward for the role in 2008, Mr Brennan withdrew his name amid questions about his connection to interrogation techniques used during the administration of George W Bush.

"Brennan has the full trust and confidence of the president," a White House official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP news agency.

"Over the past four years, he has been involved in virtually all major national security issues and will be able to hit the ground running at CIA."

Mr Hagel, a moderate Republican senator from Nebraska, has faced criticism from some fellow Republicans who say he is hostile to Israel and soft on Iran.

But White House officials say Mr Hagel's positions on these issues have been misrepresented, saying he voted to send billions in military assistance to Israel and has supported the imposition of multilateral sanctions on Tehran.

Analysts say the choice of Mr Hagel will set up a tough Senate confirmation battle.


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