ZAMBOANGA, Philippines - Malaysian ceasefire monitors arrived in the southern Philippines Wednesday on the first leg of their nine-day mission to inspect military and Muslim rebel camps ahead of peace talks.

Regional army commander Major General Trifonio Salazar briefed them on the security situation in the main southern island of Mindanao after the signing last year of a ceasefire with the Muslim separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

In Manila, Malaysian ambassador Mohammad Taufik said the advance party was to lay the groundwork for the eventual arrival of a Malaysian-led international monitoring mission that would oversee implementation of peace accord between the government and the rebels.

The MILF is the country's largest Muslim insurgent force and has waged a rebellion for the establishment of an independent Islamic state on Mindanao since 1978.

It signed a ceasefire with Manila in July last year, and peace talks aimed at sealing a final agreement are scheduled to begin in Malaysia next month.

JI a separate issue

The advance team is "to look into logistics and what kind of arrangements are there for the eventual arrival of the international monitoring team," Taufik said over local television.

He also said the Malaysian observers would not be investigating claims members of the Al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) terror group are training in MILF camps, even as the rebels invited them to check the allegations made by the military.

"The issue of JI is a separate issue. It is not in their mandate," Taufik said, adding that the Philippine government should be the one to investigate such allegations.

Defense Secretary Eduardo Ermita has said some 30 Indonesian JI members were believed to be training in MILF-held territories in central Mindanao.

But the MILF leadership has denied the allegation, and rebel negotiator Roberto Alonto on Tuesday said the Malaysian team was welcome to check for alleged JI presence in rebel camps. - AFP