The US is now keen on brokering peace negotiations between the Philippine government and Muslim rebels, as Malaysia had second thoughts about hosting the talks. Senator Aquilino Pimentel announced today that the US government was "forming a team to craft an appropriate role" for itself in the long-stalled process, should Malaysia pull out. American citizens knowledgeable about the situation in Mindanao and the Moro rebellion will do the job," Pimentel's statement was issued from Washington DC.

Malaysia said it would back out unless the administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo stopped treating MILF peace negotiators as terrorists. The Malaysian Government's proposal to lift the arrest warrants against the MILF leadership was rejected. MILF chairman Salamat Hashim and several of his deputies are facing multiple murder and other charges before a local court in Davao City.

Despite the relative quiet in Central Mindanao these days, hopes for the resumption of the stalled talks remain uncertain. In Cotabato City, a grassroots-based peace coalition with 162 affiliates, has urged both sides to go back to the negotiating table "without delay". Celestino Lagroma, Secretary General of the Mindanao People's Peace Movement (MPPM), said his group had sent eight proposals to the President, the two houses of Congress and the MILF central committee. "We appeal to your offices to take all possible measures to stop the war immediately (and) listen to the people's woes and suffering," the MPPM said in a statement, asking the Government and the MILF to call back their respective troops from the field to prevent direct confrontations.