Philippines, Muslim rebels upbeat in tackling last peace hurdle

MANILA, Jan 21 (AFP): The Philippine government and Muslim rebels said Tuesday they were optimistic of clearing the final hurdle to ending a deadly decades-old rebellion, ahead of a fresh round of talks in Malaysia.

The Kuala Lumpur negotiations on Wednesday will tackle a "normalisation" deal detailing how the rebels will hand over their weapons, and the creation of a security force to police what would be a Muslim self-rule area, they said.

"We are optimistic... we know that the (rebels are) also optimistic and we're happy that we're moving faster and moving forward to a final resolution," Jose Lorena, a junior minister who advises President Benigno Aquino on the talks, told AFP.

"Both sides now have a general idea of where they want to go, and it will just be a matter of refining all the details."

This is the last of four power-sharing accords that must be agreed between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels, before a final peace deal can be signed.

Aquino hopes to secure a final peace settlement before leaving office in mid-2016.

But he warned last month that disarming the MILF would be a "heavy and contentious" issue.