Obama to announce CIA and intelligence chiefs

Washington: US President-elect Barack Obama is completing his national security team by announcing his choices for CIA director and intelligence director on Friday.

Obama will introduce the two men on Friday, four days after their names leaked to reporters.

That gave Washington time to vent its surprise that Leon Panetta, a former White House chief of staff with no direct intelligence experience, had been tapped to head the CIA.

The other appointee is retired Admiral Dennis Blair, a former head of the US Pacific Command who won high marks for countering terrorism after the September 11, 2001, attacks.