Now that their close ally Pervez Musharraf has become history, the political sniping has heightened jitters among American officials, who are struggling to figure out whom they should support since there is no one actually in charge even as the Taliban insurgency gains steam, the New York Times said.

"Civilian leaders, Asif Zardari, Nawaz Sharif and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, are all less than ideal to become the go-to figure for the United States in Pakistan," the daily said.

"What is more, doubts are growing among American officials over the level of cooperation they can expect from the new Army Chief, Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, a former head of intelligence who took over the post from Mr Musharraf last November," it added.

After ‘glowing initial reviews’ by the Americans, General Kayani has appeared less interested in dealing with Taliban than with the sagging morale of his under-trained, under-equipped troops, it added.

"In my view they won't do aggressive counter-insurgency because they can't," Christine Fair, senior political scientist at the RAND Corporation, was quoted as saying of the Pakistani Army.

In the post-Musharraf era, Fair said, the Army wants to concentrate on rehabilitating its morale and reputation, which were sullied by Musharraf's unpopular political decisions.

"This means they are less likely to cooperate, not more," she added. "Right now, they care about what's in their own institution's interests."

That does not include getting their noses bloodied in a fight with the Taliban. "But more important, perhaps, over the longer term, the Taliban remains an important tool for Pakistan to influence events over the border if the Americans leave Afghanistan, as they did after the departure of the Soviets," she said.

Gilani, a novice front man plucked out of obscurity by Zardari to be Prime Minister, made a poor public impression on his first visit to Washington last month and was not much better behind the scenes, officials were quoted as saying.

At a gathering of the Council on Foreign Relations, he stumbled through basic questions about the Pakistan-United States relationship from a knowledgeable crowd of experts, the New York Times said.

In private meetings with the Bush administration, it quoted an official who attended as saying, Gilani could offer only a simple mantra for defeating the Taliban, "Let's work together."

Sharif, the paper said, enjoyed a good relationship with President Clinton when he was Prime Minister in the 1990s, but is now regarded warily by Washington policy makers as being too close to conservative Islamic forces in Pakistan.