The Philippine government signed a formal ceasefire pact yesterday with its main Muslim guerrilla adversaries, raising hopes for peace and development in the desperately poor south of the country.
The pact between Manila and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), sealed after days of intense talks, expanded the scope of a preliminary accord which was reached in Libya in June.
Officials said there was still a long way to a final peace agreement.
The signing ceremony was witnessed by Malaysian Foreign Minister Mr Syed Hamid Albar at the Putrajaya government administrative centre, where visiting Philippines President Ms Gloria Arroyo and Malaysian Prime Minister Mr Mahathir Mohamad were holding talks.
The MILF also signed a unity pact with the larger Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) from which it split in 1978, to forge peace in the impoverished southern Philippines.
The pacts do not cover the Abu Sayyaf, which is the only Muslim militant group still fighting in the southern Philippines.
It is currently holding 21 US and Filipino hostages on southern Basilan island, where the MILF also operates.
"This is good news for everybody. If we are able to silence the gun and move into development, it is a dream of every Mindanaon," said Manila chief negotiator Mr Jesus Dureza, referring to the main island in southern Philippines racked by separatist violence since the early 1970s.
"This ceasefire is immediate but we have to do a lot of work on the ground."
After the signing, Mr Dureza and MILF officials met briefly with Mr Mahathir and Ms Arroyo. He said Ms Arroyo congratulated them and called for development in Mindanao.
A joint communique said the pact outlined guidelines to normalise the situation in Mindanao to pave the way for rehabilitation and development programmes.
The next round of talks will be held next month at a venue to be decided later to discuss remaining issues concerning rehabilitation, development and ancestral lands, it said.
"The guidelines not only silence the guns for the peace of mind of the people. These also prohibit all public pronouncements that will tend to undermine the sincerity of both parties in waging peace," it said.
"Towards this end, the war of bullets and of words shall cease and the parties shall follow the road to peace through earnest and principled negotiations.
"This will accord the Bangsamoro people permanent space for peace, self-reliance and development." A team made up of non-governmental organisations, local governments and religious officials would monitor the ceasefire.
The treaty brokered in Kuala Lumpur would also involve monitoring teams from Malaysia, Indonesia and Libya representing the 56-member Organisation of Islamic Conference.
Both MILF chief negotiator Mr Murad Ebrahim and Mr Dureza have said more negotiations are likely to be required before a final peace agreement can be formulated.
Mr Syed Hamid said yesterday's pact 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 economic development," he said.
Mr Syed Hamid later told reporters that both Mr Mahathir and Ms Arroyo welcomed the pacts. Mr Mahathir also told both the MILF and MNLF not to make demands for an independent state, he added. The MILF and MNLF reached agreement to unite last Friday after talks in Kuala Lumpur.
On August 14th, a plebiscite is due to be held in southern Mindanao to ask the electorate if they want to join a Muslim autonomous region headed by MNLF chairman Nuar Musuami.