Barack Obama on Monday appointed Leon Panetta, the former congressman and chief of staff to Bill Clinton, as the next director of the Central Intelligence Agency in a move that caught many in the intelligence community by surprise.

Mr Panetta has little experience in the intelligence field and had supported Hillary Clinton over Mr Obama in the Democratic presidential primaries. However, the former White House budget director is also widely seen as a highly competent administrator who has built up a close relationship with the president-elect in the past few months.