The Philippines and Muslim rebels agreed Wednesday to extend the mandate of a peace monitoring mission in the troubled south as they pledged to continue talks on ending a lengthy insurgency.

The declarations came at the end of three-day talks in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur, the first round of full negotiations since deadly October clashes nearly led to a complete collapse of the peace effort.

A joint statement by the Philippine government and representatives of the 12,000-strong Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) said the talks wrapped with "both parties reaffirming their commitment to move the peace process forward."

As part of that, they agreed to meet again in January in Malaysia for a further round of talks and to renew for another year the mandate of an international monitoring team observing the peace effort, the statement said.

The monitoring team's mandate in the southern Philippines was to have expired in March 2012.

The statement gave no other details on the specifics of the talks in Kuala Lumpur other than to say the two sides continued discussions toward "crafting a framework agreement."

AFP was not immediately able to contact officials with the two delegations for further comment.

Philippine negotiator Marvic Leonen opened the closed-door talks on Monday by laying down a challenge to the rebels to pull together with Manila to formally end the insurgency by the first quarter of next year, according to a government statement.

The peace effort looked in peril after an October ambush in which MILF rebels killed 19 soldiers on the southern island of Basilan.

The killings led to fierce battles on several fronts on the main southern island of Mindanao, during which as many as 40 soldiers, police and civilians were killed and thousands displaced.

The violence raised pressure on President Benigno Aquino to break off negotiations and launch an all-out war against the MILF.

But Aquino held firm, and last month negotiators met in Kuala Lumpur for preparatory talks ahead of this week's formal restart.

Although the two sides appear to have pulled back from the brink, Leonen on Monday urged the MILF to do more to rein in "lawless elements" that threaten peace.

In August, the MILF snubbed a government counter-proposal that did not address their demand for the creation of a "sub-state" for minority Muslims.

The rebellion has claimed an estimated 150,000 lives since it began in the 1970s.