In a major shakeup of President Barack Obama’s national security team, CIA director Leon Panetta is to be named to take over as defence secretary this summer, a US official told AFP yesterday.

As part of the overhaul, Mr Obama is also expected to nominate his war commander in Afghanistan, General David Petraeus, to succeed Mr Panetta at the helm of the Central Intelligence Agency, US media reported.

Mr Panetta, 72, would replace Defence Secretary Robert Gates, an influential figure in Mr Obama’s cabinet whose tenure began under Mr Obama’s Republican predecessor, George W. Bush.

Mr Gates, who had vowed to step down later this year, is himself a former CIA director and has spoken highly of Mr Panetta’s work at the spy agency.

The overhaul comes at a pivotal moment and will help shape Mr Obama’s approach to the increasingly unpopular war in Afghanistan, the Nato-led air war in Libya launched last month and the Arab uprisings threatening Washington’s influence in the Middle East.