Controversial diplomat given job of overseeing CIA and FBI

The main task of Mr Negroponte, 65, the US ambassador in Iraq, will be to oversee the often disparate intelligence community and ensure information is shared. A failure to share information between agencies was highlighted by the commission investigating the 9/11 attacks, which recommended that a post of national director be created.

The job is something of a poisoned chalice. Mr Negroponte will be fighting a bureaucratic and political turf war against the likes of the Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, who has already signalled his intention to give the Pentagon a greater intelligence-gathering role, and Porter Goss, appointed last year to lead the CIA. At least three other candidates turned down the post before Mr Bush turned to Mr Negroponte.

"John will make sure that those whose duty it is to defend America have the information we need to make the right decisions," Mr Bush said. "We're going to stop the terrorists before they strike."

One of the main conclusions of the independent 9/11 Commission was that a position should be created which would oversee the many intelligence agencies. The CIA's failure to pass on information to the FBI about two of the hijackers, Khalid al-Midhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi, who were on "watch-lists", has been highlighted as the type of failure that needs to be prevented from recurring.

The FBI and the CIA, the commission said, had also been unable to "connect the dots" about clues suggesting an attack on the US was imminent.

Mr Bush made clear yesterday that he wanted there to be no doubts that Mr Negroponte would occupy the senior co-ordinating role. In an apparent reference to Mr Rumsfeld's moves at the Pentagon, he said Mr Negroponte would make sure "our military commanders continue to have quick access" to battlefield intelligence. "The director of the CIA will report to John," he said, adding: "If we're going to stop the terrorists before they strike, we must ensure our intelligence agencies work as a single, unified enterprise."

Mr Negroponte, a former US ambassador to the UN, is considered close to the Bush administration and willing to take on high-pressure positions. He has served as ambassador to the Philippines, Mexico and Honduras. He was condemned by the left for his actions in Honduras, assisting the US-backed Contras in their war against the democratically elected Sandinista government of Nicaragua.

His confirmation to the UN post was delayed for six months because of criticism of his record in Honduras, where he was also accused of acquiescing to abuses by death squads.

Mr Negroponte said that his new role "will no doubt be the most challenging assignment I have undertaken."

In a statement, Pat Roberts, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, which must approve Mr Negroponte's nomination, said that he was pleased by the selection.

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