MANILA, Philippines – Muslim rebels waging a decades-long insurgency in the southern Philippines that has killed more than 150,000 people aim to sign a roadmap for peace this year, their chief negotiator told AFP on Sunday (September 23rd).

The planned accord would outline steps to be taken to achieve a final peace pact between the 12,000-strong Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the government before President Benigno Aquino steps down in 2016.

"We can see the light at the end of the tunnel and ... are 85% sure it will be signed by the end of the year," MILF chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal told AFP, referring to the roadmap both sides have been tackling.

He said a crucial moment would come during the next round of peace talks in Kuala Lumpur, likely to take place in early October. "This meeting is really the peak time to hammer out some of the outstanding issues and come out with an agreement."

The government also intends to sign the roadmap this year, according to its chief negotiator, Marvic Leonen.

"We are looking at this framework agreement as the over-arching architecture of the peace process," Leonen told AFP.