(AFP) Philippines President Gloria Arroyo received a red carpet welcome here today on her first foreign trip since taking office, capped by the signing of a formal ceasefire pact with a key Muslim separatist group.

Manila negotiators signed the pact with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) at the Putrajaya government administrative centre, where Arroyo was holding talks with Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

The MILF also sealed a unity accord with a smaller Muslim separatist group, the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), to forge peace in the impoverished southern Philippines.

The signing of the pacts, agreed between the parties after days of talks in Kuala Lumpur, was witnessed by Foreign minister Syed Hamid Albar.

Syed Hamid, who earlier greeted Arroyo and her 90-member delegation at the airport, quoted Arroyo as saying the two pacts made her visit "fulfilling and satisfying".

Arroyo's visit here is the first by a Philippines leader since 1993.

She was immediately whisked to Parliament Square upon arrival where she was given a full-scale ceremonial welcome by Malaysian king Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah and Mahathir.

Dressed in a pale blue dress and knee-length coat, Arroyo inspected a guard of honour from the Royal Malay Regiment before meeting ministers and diplomats.

A military band played both national anthems and a 21-gun salute was fired.

Formal talks

The Philippines leader was driven south to the Putrajaya new administrative centre after lunch for formal talks with Mahathir.

They posed for photographs before the Mahathir took his guest to the roof of the prime minister's department for a view of the new city.

After private talks, the two leaders will head a delegation meeting before witnessing the signing of bilateral agreements on information technology, tourism and health, officials said.

Manila chief negotiator Jesus Dureza said he and MILF delegates met briefly with Arroyo and Mahathir after the signing ceremony.

Arroyo congratulated them and called for development in the southern Philippine island of Mindanao, he said.

The 12,500-strong MILF was set up in 1978 as a splinter of the MNLF, which signed a peace treaty with the government in 1995 to end its 24-year separatist rebellion.

MILF chief negotiator Murad Ebrahim told AFP earlier the pact with Manila would allow teams from Malaysia, Indonesia and Libya to monitor a ceasefire agreement made in Tripoli last month.

He said it involved guidelines to implement a "cessation of hostilities which include a ceasefire, mechanics to normalise the situation in the Bangsamoro (Moro nation) homeland, and security and immunity aspects".

Woo investment

Arroyo has praised Malaysia's efforts to forge peace in the southern Philippines and called Mahathir her "model of a leader."

She is expected to discuss with Mahathir efforts to revive the so-called East Asian Growth Area covering the southern Philippines, eastern Malaysia, Brunei and northern Indonesia.

The Malaysian king will host a state banquet for Arroyo at the palace later today.

Tomorrow, Arroyo will meet business leaders to woo investment, visit the world's tallest buildings, the Petronas Twin Towers, and have dinner with the Filipino community in Malaysia.

She returns to the Philippines on Thursday.

Malaysia is the Philippines' eighth largest trading partner, with bilateral trade last year totalling more than RM9 billion dollars.