Obama to retain Gates as defence secretary - reports

Washington: United States President-elect Barack Obama is likely to retain current Defence Secretary Robert Gates in his cabinet, media reports said on Wednesday.

News website Politico said the Bush-appointed Gates had agreed to keep his position in the new Democratic cabinet.

The report added that retired Marine General James Jones is likely to be named national security adviser.

Politico also quoting Democratic and Republican officials as saying the announcements would be made early next week when Obama unveils a national security team including New York Senator Hillary Clinton as his nominee for secretary of state.

Officials at Obama's transition office declined to comment on the report.

News channels ABC and Fox also reported that Gates would stay on at the Pentagon, which had been widely suggested as a possibility for weeks.

A former CIA director, Gates was president of Texas A&M University when President George W. Bush asked him to take over the US Department of Defense from the combative Donald Rumsfeld in 2006.