"Now that the issues of military pullout in Buliok and dropping of charges against MILF leaders are resolved, we see no problem in the effort to finally ink a final peace talk with the government," said Benjie Midtimbang, chairman of the MILF coordinating committee on the cessation of hostilities.

The government-MILF ceasefire committee convened in this city last Monday for its 22nd CCCH meeting during which members of the Malaysian and Brunei international monitoring team were present.

In a press briefing yesterday, government CCCH chairman Brig. Gen. Alexander Yano said the efforts are gradually creating bright prospects for the resumption of the peace negotiations.

Yano also expressed appreciation for the participation of the IMT in the peace process.

The 60-member IMT will be touring conflict-affected zones in Mindanao for one year to assess the implementation of the government-MILF bilateral ceasefire.

On the issue of terrorism within the MILF organization, Yano said the government has no reason to believe that the organization has linkage with Jemaah Islamiyah and other terrorist networks, considering that the rebel group has publicly renounced their involvement with terror networks.

"We believe them. At our level, it was never an issue," Yano said.

This came about following the recent arrest of three MILF bomb experts linked to the bombing attempt on the United States Embassy in Manila.