MANILA, the Philippines -- The latest round of talks between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has ended in what the rebel group described as a "technical impasse," the Sun Star reported on Sunday (December 16th).

The MILF said that Malaysian facilitator Dato Tengku Ab’ Ghaafar bin Mohamed adjourned the four-day session Saturday night without a closing programme, joint statement, or a date for the next round of talks.

Philstar.com quoted the MILF as saying there had been no agreement or consensus worth mentioning in a joint statement, which have been traditionally signed during the closing of every round of formal talks in Malaysia.

The MILF emphasised, however, that both parties have achieved "tremendous gains" on the crafting of the four annexes to the framework agreement stuck in mid-October on Bangsamoro power-sharing, wealth-sharing, modalities and arrangements, and normalisation.

In a separate statement, the government peace panel made no mention of a "technical impasse", saying instead that both parties "made substantial progress" on the draft annexes.