Muslim separatist group today said it did not expect peace talks with the Philippines government to resume unless the military ends a months-long offensive in the troubled south.

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) leadership however welcomed the sending of a new team of negotiators to Malaysia next week as a positive step, rebel spokesman Eid Kabalu said.

"This is the dilemma, they say they want to resume the talks, but the development on the ground is different," Kabalu told AFP.

"The military should follow the command of the civilian government, and one of our conditions is for them to silence their guns to create an environment conducive to talks."

The government's chief peace negotiator, Rafael Seguis, on Wednesday said he would fly to Kuala Lumpur next week to inform the Malaysian government that Manila was ready to sit down with the MILF again for "exploratory talks."

Malaysia has been brokering and hosting the peace talks but last year pulled out its monitors from the Philippines expressing frustration over the slow pace of the negotiations.

Deadly raids

Peace talks have been suspended since August, when the MILF launched deadly raids across the southern island of Mindanao after a court stopped a proposed agreement giving them control over an autonomous region.

Over half a million people had been displaced by the clashes that followed, while over 300 civilians and combatants have been killed since.

The MILF over the past two months has also been stepping up its guerrilla attacks, targeting vulnerable government targets and carrying out random bomb and grenade attacks.

Military chief General Alexander Yano last week said massive offensives against the MILF would continue while intelligence operations would be intensified to capture rebel commanders.

Kabalu said that the MILF "remains on the defensive" but is willing to stand its troops down if government troops are ordered to do so.

-AFP