An advance team of Malaysian ceasefire observers landed in the Philippines for a nine-day tour, to inspect 10 rebel camps and visit five cities where offices for their mission have been set up. The deployment of observers from several Muslim countries is one of the preconditions for the resumption of formal peace talks between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) fighting for an Islamic state on southern Mindanao island. Ultimately, the team will include at least 25 observers from Bahrain, Brunei, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Libya and Saudi Arabia. - Adam Geibel