KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 7: Muslim militants and the Philippine government are close to a deal on land claims — the key to ending a 40-year insurgency that has cost more than 120,000 lives, the facilitator of the talks said on Tuesday.

Negotiators from Manila and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), now in Malaysia for talks, are putting ‘final touches’ on a preliminary agreement on the issue, Othman Abdul Razak, special adviser to Malaysia’s prime minister, said.

“We are quite optimistic. Everyone is quite optimistic. There is a groundswell in support of the peace process, especially from the Muslims,” said Mr Othman, who is facilitating the talks on behalf of Malaysia, seen by both sides as a neutral party.

A final agreement on the issue of ancestral domain could be reached by late March or early April. “That is our timeline,” Mr Othman said, adding that a full peace accord could follow before Ramazan, which begins in late September.

“If everything goes on smoothly, we can have it probably before Ramazan,” said Mr Othman, a strategic adviser to successive prime ministers and a top bureaucrat with 33 years’ experience.—Reuters