Muslims waging a decades-old armed separatist campaign in the Philippines see "rough sailing" ahead for peace talks due to resume later this month, a rebel leader said today.

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) said the Malaysian hosts had delayed the resumption of negotiations scheduled for last week to allow President Gloria Arroyo time to deal with a political crisis after quelling an alleged coup plot.

The talks should resume later this month with the two sides drafting guidelines for resolving the Muslim minority's "ancestral domain" claims, an MILF statement said.

"We expect rough sailing in the final stage of the talks," chief MILF negotiator Mohagher Iqbal said in the statement.

"We are dealing here with specific and hard issues like form of governance, delineating areas or territories," he said.

Manila has said it expects to sign a peace agreement this year with the 12,000-member MILF, which was left out of a political settlement reached by the Philippines and the rival Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in 1996.

Deal to be challenged

Leaders of both factions launched a separatist war in the southern region of Mindanao in 1971. The rebellion split into two in 1978 when the MILF was set up.

The Philippines and the MILF announced in Kuala Lumpur last month that they had reached a preliminary deal on the Muslims' ancestral domain - untitled communal farms that came under formal state ownership when the Southeast Asian nation became a Spanish colony in the late 16th century.

Iqbal said the MILF expected the proposed peace deal to be challenged by certain politicians and businessmen.

"We also expect anti-peace groups to oppose the peace process openly," he said.

The Philippine government and the MILF signed a ceasefire accord about three years ago but sporadic clashes still take place.