MANILA, Philippines?The charisma and charm that brought peace to Northern Ireland may be needed to put an end to the conflict in the Southern Philippines.

That?s the hope expressed by Malacañang following a luncheon meeting Monday between President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Britain?s former Prime Minister Tony Blair, the man credited with hammering out the Belfast Agreement of 1998.

?If there?s anything we can do, we are willing to help,? Blair told Ms Arroyo, according to Foreign Undersecretary Rafael Seguis, head of the Philippine panel in the peace talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

The two leaders discussed at the Palace meeting the separatist insurgency that has raged for four decades, said deputy presidential spokesperson Lorelei Fajardo.

?The President is confident Tony Blair, with all his experience, can contribute a lot to resolving our peace and order problems in Mindanao,? Fajardo said.

The envoy to the Middle East for the United States, Russia, the United Nations and the European Union arrived in Manila on Sunday. On Monday, he addressed forums at Ateneo de Manila University and Sofitel Philippine Plaza Hotel.

Blair was initially being eyed to be part of the proposed eminent persons group, which would serve as advisers in the peace talks with the secessionist MILF. Also being suggested to the group was Kofi Annan, former UN secretary general.

Curiously, the proposal was never brought up during the luncheon which lasted for almost an hour at the Bahay Pangarap building, said Seguis.

Malacañang officials, including Ms Arroyo, were ostensibly careful not to surprise Blair with the proposal, which had been announced over the weekend by Presidential Peace Adviser Avelino Razon.

?Let me stress that there is no official offer coming from us regarding the invitation for an Eminent Persons group,? Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said. ?There is nothing of that sort in the first place.?

Ancestral domain

Seguis told the Philippine Daily Inquirer that the proposal was internal only to members of the negotiating panel. He said his idea was inspired by the involvement of key international figures in negotiating peace in areas like Sudan and Sierra Leone.

He said it still had to be approved by both the government and MILF panels.

Razon has said that the government will be banking on Blair?s extensive experience in peace negotiations, such as the Good Friday accord between Catholic nationalists and Protestant unionists in Northern Ireland in 1998.

Other than making an informal offer to help put an end to the Mindanao conflict, Blair became more of a listener throughout his meeting with Ms Arroyo, Seguis said.

Also in the meeting were British Ambassador Peter Beckingham, Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo, Ermita and Razon.

Seguis said Blair was told about the failed memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain (MOA-AD) with the MILF, which prompted recalcitrant MILF commanders to pillage communities in Mindanao in August last year.

New approach

But Seguis did not say if Blair was informed that the government would have proceeded with the accord?which would have given the MILF blanket control of most of the South?had not local leaders petitioned against it before the Supreme Court.

Part of the briefing on Mindanao was spent on Malacañang?s new approach to peace negotiations: Disarmament, demobilization and rehabilitation (DDR). The DDR approach came only as a result of the high court?s ruling against the MOA-AD.

?We discussed where we are now and where we intend to go,? Seguis said.

Arroyo has given herself until 2010, when her six-year term in office expires, to bring peace to Mindanao, where more than 120,000 people have been killed since 1978.

The 12,000-strong MILF signed a ceasefire in 2003, paving the way for formal negotiations with Manila.

Resumption of talks urged

Japan?s ambassador to Manila on Monday urged an immediate resumption of talks with the MILF as he announced the launch of grant contracts worth over $500,000 for projects in the South.

Japan is the Philippines? largest aid donor and has poured over $1 million since 2006 in Mindanao.

Tokyo ?strongly hopes that peace talks between the government of the Philippines and the MILF will be resumed immediately,? Makoto Katsura said in a statement.

Nearly 300 people were killed in the latest fighting on Mindanao, including a large number of civilians, while more than 600,000 were displaced. More than 100,000 are still in evacuation camps and sporadic clashes continue.

Arroyo has since called on the MILF to return to the negotiating table, but the leaders of the group have rejected the peace overtures. With a report from Agence France-Presse