PEACE talks between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) will resume in October, Defense Secretary Avelino Cruz Jr. said.

"Within October, [the talks] will resume in Malaysia," Cruz told reporters in Camp Aguinaldo.

The defense chief however did not give a specific date.

Last week, ceasefire negotiators for both the government and the MILF signed a joint statement reiterating their commitment to the resumption of the talks.

They also agreed to inspect an MILF camp in Mt. Cararao in Lanao del Sur province, an alleged training camp of the Southeast Asian terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI).

The MILF, which has been fighting a guerrilla war to establish an independent Islamic state in Mindanao, has repeatedly denied links to the JI.