WASHINGTON, May 8: President George W. Bush on Monday nominated Air Force General Michael Hayden as CIA chief, setting up a battle with some members of the US Congress who oppose having a military man head the civilian spy agency.

“He’s the right man to lead the CIA at this critical moment in our nation’s history,” Bush said in making the announcement with Hayden at his side in the Oval Office.

Hayden, 61, would replace Porter Goss, who was forced to resign on Friday after a contentious tenure at the CIA marked by an exodus of senior officials and tensions with the national director of intelligence, John Negroponte.

“Mike knows our intelligence community from the ground up. He has been both a provider and a consumer of intelligence,” Bush said.

In brief remarks, Hayden said he hoped to answer any concerns about him from Congress.

“In the confirmation process, I look forward to meeting with the leaders of the Congress, better understanding their concerns and working with them to move the American intelligence community forward,” he said.

Senators have said they would use the confirmation hearings to learn more about the programme of warrant-less eavesdropping on Americans’ international phone calls and emails in pursuit of terrorism suspects.

Bush, who has said Hayden was the one who proposed the programme after the September 11 attacks, defends it as essential to fighting terrorism.

Some Congress members, including some in Bush’s Republican Party, have said a general heading the CIA could give the Pentagon too much sway over US intelligence gathering.

Others have said he is too close to the White House and lacks experience building a clandestine service.—Reuters