US President Barack Obama was to nominate later Saturday a retired Air Force general to serve as the nation's top intelligence official.
Obama has selected James Clapper, 69, a retired general and currently the Pentagon's intelligence undersecretary, for the position of director of national intelligence, or DNI, DPA reported according to the New York Times and Washington Post.
The DNI oversees and coordinates the activities of the 16 intelligence agencies, including the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Clapper's nomination must be confirmed by the Senate.
Clapper will replace Dennis Blair, who resigned in May after coming under criticism for failing to detect the unsuccessful December 25 attempt to bomb a US airliner, and the botched car bomb plot in New York's Times Square May 1.
The DNI was created after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and later findings that the intelligence community was ineffective at sharing information with other agencies.
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