Manila announces truce with MILF

The deal was reached with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which has been fighting for an independent Muslim territory in Mindanao and other islands of the southern Philippines for about three decades and has been blamed for deadly bombings and other terrorist activities.

"Today the peace panels of our government and the MILF have agreed on a mutual cessation of hostilities," President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said in a statement.

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"I call on the panels to immediately enter in formal talks towards a final peace agreement," she said.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas Ople said earlier that negotiations with the rebels could reopen in Malaysia next week.

The way for resumed talks was opened last month when an MILF leader formally denounced terrorism, a top government demand. Arroyo had accused the rebels of ties with the regional militant Islamic network Jemaah Islamiyah, said to be linked to al-Qaida.

The Philippine military launched an offensive against the 12,000-strong rebel movement earlier this year amid an escalation in rebel attacks and bombings, and sporadic peace talks fell apart.

Aware that past talks have failed, Arroyo sounded an optimistic tone with the new cease-fire.

"I ask our people to give peace a chance," she said. "As we address the roots of rebellion and secession, I am confident that we shall also effectively isolate and marginalize the dwindling terrorist cells in Mindanao and across our seas in the region.

"Peace is at hand. We shall forge the political will to preserve it for all generations of Filipinos."