Government and rebel negotiators yesterday hailed a "breakthrough" in efforts to end a decades-old Muslim separatist rebellion in the southern Philippines. A joint statement at the end of a three-day meeting in this Malaysian port city between delegations from Manila and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) said formal peace negotiations were expected to begin within months. Both sides "hailed the outcome of the meeting as a breakthrough towards a just and durable solution to the Mindanao conflict," the statement said.The MILF has been demanding that it be granted rights over its "ancestral domain" or homeland which traditionally means the entire southern island of Mindanao, where they are fighting to establish an independent Islamic state. But MILF officials have said that they were willing to compromise on the demand, without saying what they were prepared to accept. "Since the inception of the peace process in January 1997, the Port Dickson talks marked the first time that both sides entered into substantive discussions outside the cessation of hostilities," the statement said. "The panel decided to forge on with technical level talks in Malaysia to exhaust all possible consensus points before the start of formal negotiations expected to be held by mid-year."
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's chief negotiator Silvestre Afable told a news conference that "the past three days have been very productive exploratory talks. This is truly a breakthrough. "This could not happen without the commitment of both sides and the sincerity shown by the MILF. President Arroyo is very happy with the development. We informed her that we have broken ground."