Malaysia has agreed to send peace monitors to the southern Philippines to oversee a ceasefire between government and Muslim separatist rebels ahead of peace talks, Foreign Secretary Blas Ople said today.

Manila had earlier asked Kuala Lumpur to head an observer team composed of about 25 soldiers and policemen, including personnel from other Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) members Brunei, Bangladesh, Bahrain and Libya.

"The Malaysian cabinet yesterday decided to push through with the peace monitoring in the country," Ople told reporters.

"Malaysian officers will be deployed. They are attached to the Malaysian embassy in Manila and they will have a diplomatic status," he said.

Renewed talks

Malaysia has agreed to host resumption of talks soon between the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which has been waging a 25-year insurgency in the south.

Negotiations were stalled earlier this year amid a spate of bombings and raids in the south which the government had blamed on the MILF.

President Gloria Arroyo however later lifted punitive strikes against the MILF after rebel chief Salamat Hashim publicly denounced terrorism, paving the way for the resumption of talks. - AFP