Manila says talks with rebels may resume in August

MANILA, July 6 (Reuters) Talks between the Philippine government and Muslim separatists to end nearly 40 years of rebellion in the south of the archipelago may resume in early August, the head of the state's negotiating panel said today.

Rodolfo Garcia, a retired army general, said Manila was eager to resume talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to strike a deal on a proposed ancestral homeland for 3 million Muslims in the south of the mainly Catholic country.

''We're looking at the dates between early August and the middle of that month to resume our negotiations in Malaysia,'' Garcia told Reuters in a Friday interview.

''As soon as we sort out our technical problems, we'll inform the Malaysians about our readiness to talk. We wanted to have it as soon as possible.'' Malaysia has been brokering talks since 2001 to end a decades-old conflict that has killed more than 120,000 people and displaced 2 million on the southern island of Mindanao.

Disagreement over how to divide up the resource-rich south and the political shape of a Muslim administration as well as the distraction of national elections in May have held up progress in the talks.

Garcia said there had also been slight delays in the resumption of talks after his predecessor, Silvestre Afable, resigned in June amid reports he was not getting full support from President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and some Cabinet members.

''There (was) still some paperwork to be completed,'' Garcia said.

Another member of the government's peace panel, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the talks would focus on the number of villages that would become part of a proposed ancestral homeland for Muslims.

In December, the government informally showed the MILF a ''new formula'' to end the Muslim rebellion in the south, granting Muslims their right to autonomy in a number of areas, although Manila would maintain control over national defence and foreign and monetary policy.

''We have not discussed this formula but our impression was that the MILF has no big objection to the plan,'' said a member of the peace panel who declined to be named.

REUTERS GT RK1735