WASHINGTON: US President-elect Joe Biden on Monday announced William Burns as his pick to lead the Central Intelligence Agency, tapping a retired veteran diplomat who helped lead secret talks with Iran.

Burns, along with Biden's nominee for director of national intelligence, Avril Haines, will be tasked with rebuilding the US spy community's reputation after it was heavily politicized under outgoing President Donald Trump.

Currently president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a leading Washington foreign policy think-tank, Burns will be the first career diplomat to lead the CIA.—AFP