President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has said the government is committed to restarting talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the 11,000-strong rebel group that has been fighting for self-rule for minority Muslims for decades.

Mrs Arroyo has faced growing international calls to resume peace talks to end the new fighting that killed scores of soldiers, rebels and civilians and displaced more than 500,000 villagers in the southern Mindanao region's marshy heartland.

Her peace adviser, Hermogenes Esperon, on Tuesday announced the appointment of Agrarian Reform Secretary Nasser Pangandaman, a Muslim, and former House Rep. Adilberto Antonino, representing Christians from Mindanao, as negotiators.

Former House Rep. Ronald Adamat, a co-author of a law on indigenous people, was also named to the panel, while a fourth member will be announced shortly, Esperon told reporters.

Three weeks ago, Mrs Arroyo named Foreign Undersecretary Rafael Seguis, a veteran diplomat, as new chief negotiator.

Previous Malaysian-brokered talks had appeared close to a deal in July, when both sides initialed a preliminary agreement to expand a Muslim autonomous area in the south. However, Christians in the area appealed to the country's Supreme Court, which issued a restraining order before the pact could be formally signed.

In August, rebel commanders began attacking villages in Mindanao, and Mrs Arroyo disbanded the previous panel in September.

A spokesman for the rebels said they would reject any new negotiations unless the government sticks to the previous autonomy deal, which was later invalidated by the Supreme Court.

'We are firm with our stand. We will resume peace talks only if President Arroyo honors the Muslim ancestral domain agreement,' said Mr Mohagher Iqbal, the chief rebel peace negotiator. -- AP