(PTI): The administration of President Barack Obama is reaching out to President Asif Ali Zardari’s rivals who maintain close ties with radical groups, a report says.

Citing unnamed administration officials, The New York Times reported on Saturday that opposition leader Nawaz Sharif’s close ties with right wing parties could help tackle the ongoing Taliban insurgency across the violence-wracked country.

Sharif, who has served twice as prime minister during the 1990s, represents the Pakistan Muslim League-N and has long been held by the US at arm’s length because of his close ties to radical factions.

However, the report also warned that Washington has a bad history of trying to engineer domestic politics in Pakistan.

Washington’s move reflects heightened concern in the Obama administration about the survivability of the Zardari government, according to the paper.

The revelation comes after US Central Command General David Petraeus warned in a private meeting that Islamabad was vulnerable to the Taliban insurgency and could collapse within the next two weeks.

This is while Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani has emphasized the strength of the Pakistan People Party-led government, saying that state institutions were functioning “effectively” despite Taliban insurgency.

PPP officials have criticized Washington for its unwise policies which they maintain have led to the spread of extremism and the strengthening of the al-Qaeda and Taliban linked militants in Pakistan.