PHILIPPINES AND MILF TO RESUME PEACE TALKS IN MALAYSIA

By R.Ravichandran

KUALA LUMPUR, March 3 (Bernama) -- The chairman of the Philippine government's peace negotiating panel, Rafael Seguis, is scheduled to arrive here Wednesday night for peace talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) on Thursday.

According to a diplomatic source from the Philippine embassy here, Seguis,
who is the Foreign Affairs Department's undersecretary, will lead about 10
members for the resumption of the peace negotiation, where Malaysia is the host.

"The fact that the government panel will be here...we assume that the MILF
will also participate in the talks. MILF never inform us whenever they come
here," he told Bernama when contacted here Wednesday.

However, he said, the embassy had no knowledge of the venue for the meeting
or how many days the meeting was scheduled to be held.

"We were just informed that they (government peace panel) will be arriving
today...no other information is provided," he said.

The Philippines and the MILF have been talking on-and-off for 12 years to
end a four-decade conflict in the southern Philippines.

The peace talks, brokered by Malaysia since 2001, aim to end the four-decade
Muslim insurgency.

On Feb 17, the MILF announced that Manila's proposal, made during talks in
Malaysia in January, was "unacceptable" and a peace deal during President Gloria
Arroyo's administration was also unlikely. Arroyo's term as president ends on
June 30.

Malaysia is also the head of the International Monitoring Team (IMT) in
Mindanao.

The IMT plays a critical role in supporting peace negotiations between the
Philippine government and the MILF, and in continuing the momentum for the
resolution of the conflict in Mindanao.
-- BERNAMA