Questions about President Hamid Karzai's suitability as a partner in the US-led effort to quell the Taliban insurgency have crescendoed since Petraeus was nominated to replace his sacked predecessor Stanley McChrystal.

Karzai's distrust of the United States and unilateral overtures to the Taliban and Pakistan, as well as inaction on corruption, have become the backbeat of an unpopular war almost nine years old.

"We all know Karzai is conducting a personal agenda, mostly in his dealings with Pakistan and the Taliban," political analyst Haroun Mir said of Karzai's attempts to broker a peace deal.

"If the US remains passive it could damage the US, and Washington will remain outside this contact. It will hurt the US strategy."

McChrystal was fired for insubordination after disparaging comments about US officials, including US President Barack Obama, appeared in a Rolling Stone magazine article.

Petraeus this week addressed US lawmakers ahead of his approval as commander of the 140,000 US and NATO troops fighting the Taliban insurgency. His appointment was confirmed by the US Senate on Wednesday.

He faced questions about how the war can be won, when US troops should come home and if Karzai is a fit partner.

Outrage at the levels of corruption that saw Karzai re-elected as president last August subsided after his pledges to clean up graft and build up the nation's security capacity.

But the debacle over McChrystal's departure coincided with a dramatic uptick in foreign troop casualties -- more than 1,000 American and 300 British dead since 2001, and more than 100 NATO soldiers in June alone.

Fears the war is bogged down have been exacerbated by McChrystal's failure to secure the poppy-growing centre of Marjah, in Helmand province, and the postponement of escalated operations in the Taliban heartland of Kandahar.

Karzai has caused concern among NATO allies by blaming Afghan opium production on the West, corruption on countries pouring in aid money, and sacking competent ministers favoured by the West.

Most worrying for Washington, however, is his apparent willingness to include Pakistan's spy agency, and possibly militant groups associated with Al-Qaeda, in a power-sharing peace agreement.

Reports in recent days indicated that Karzai could be using the uproar surrounding McChrystal's departure to pursue the Pakistan option, a Western ambassador said, on condition he not be identified.

"It is still too early to talk within the parameters of a settlement. This is also Karzai's feeling and he is using the changes as a cover to move the momentum forward," he said.

Karzai's office on Monday dismissed a report by Al-Jazeera television that he had met face-to-face with Sirajuddin Haqqani, who heads the brutal Al-Qaeda-linked Haqqani network, as a prelude to peace talks.

US media reported that Pakistani military and intelligence officials have been shuttling between Kabul and Islamabad to push their agenda with Karzai, and ensure that Washington is locked out of any deal.

Observers said this was an area where Petraeus -- also a consummate politician -- could make a difference.

"If we look at the political prospects, the change will be positive because McChrystal was too close to Karzai and couldn't criticise him, even when it was necessary," said Mir.

"Petraeus will be much more aggressive in trying to convince Karzai that going it alone will not work," he said.

A Western diplomat agreed, noting that Karzai welcomed McChrystal's efforts to repair broken bridges in relations with Obama and his ambassador to Kabul, Karl Eikenberry, which reached a nadir last year after the ambassador's criticisms of the president became public.

Working as "both commander and ambassador," McChrystal had brokered a thaw between Karzai and Eikenberry in recent months, a Western diplomat said.

"McChrystal has a political legacy as primary channel of communications with Karzai, building up the communities and empowering Afghans.

"There is certainly interest in Karzai establishing some close and cordial relationship with Petraeus, as he had with McChrystal, especially as he responded so well to Karzai's main concern, civilian casualties.

"That will be the measurement by which Afghans will value Petraeus," he said.

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