(AFP) The largest Philippine Muslim separatist group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), signed a formal ceasefire pact here today with the Philippine government.

The signing ceremony was witnessed by Foreign minister Syed Hamid Albar at the Putrajaya government administrative centre, where visiting Philippines President Gloria Arroyo and Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad were holding talks.

The MILF also signed a unity pact with a smaller Muslim separatist group, the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), to forge peace in the impoverished southern Philippines.

Officials earlier said the pacts would be signed in the presence of Arroyo, who arrived here earlier today on her first foreign trip since taking office in January.

But Manila chief negotiator Jesus Dureza said there was "no expectation of Arroyo witnessing the signing" of the treaty, outlining guidelines to enforce a ceasefire agreement made in Libya in June.

"This is good news for everybody. If we are able to silence the gun and move into development, it is a dream of every Mindanao," he told AFP , referring to the main island in the southern Philippines that has been racked by separatist violence since the early 70s.

"This ceasefire is immediate but we have to do a lot of work on the ground."

Follow-up meeeting

After the signing, Dureza and MILF officials met briefly with Mahathir and Arroyo. He said Arroyo congratulated them and called for development in Mindanao.

Predominantly-Muslim Malaysia has been hosting talks between Manila and the MILF to help end a 23-year-old rebellion in the southern Philippines.

Dureza said a monitoring team made up of non-governmental organisations and local governments would observe the ceasefire pact containing guidelines on security aspects.

The next round of talks between the MILF and Manila would be held next month at a place to be decided later, he added.

MILF chief negotiator Murad Ebrahim earlier said the pact comprised guidelines to implement a "cessation of hostilities..., mechanisms to normalise the situation in the Bangsamoro (Moro) homeland, and security and immunity aspects".

The treaty brokered here would involve monitoring teams from Malaysia, Indonesia and Libya representing the 56-member Organisation of Islamic Conference, he said.

Both Murad and Dureza have said there was still a long way to go before a formal peace agreement could be reached.

Mark of peace

Syed Hamid said the ceasefire agreement marked "another step forward for the quest for peace" in Mindanao.

"I hope that both sides take this opportunity and momentum to continue working vigorously on other aspects of the peace process relating to the economic development," he said during the ceremony.

"More has to be done in the days ahead to ensure the realisation of this agreement and I sincerely pray that your hard work and devotion will lead to a comprehensive peace settlement in southern Philippines."

The 12,500-strong MILF resulted from a 1978 splinter of the MNLF, which signed a peace treaty with the government in 1995 to end more than two decades of separatist rebellion.

The MILF and MNLF reached agreement to unite last Friday after talks in Kuala Lumpur.

On August 14, a plebiscite is due to be held in the southern Mindanao region to ask the electorate there if they want to join a Muslim autonomous region headed by MNLF founder and chairman Nur Misuari.