MANILA, Philippines, Dec. 13 (UPI) -- Eid Kabalu, a leader of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, urged participants at an international peace convention Saturday in the Philippines to support the peaceful settlement of the conflict in Mindanao, the Philippines' southern island.

The conflict between the MILF and the Philippines government has lasted since the 1970s and cost an estimated 120,000 lives. The parties resumed talks last Tuesday and Wednesday in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, after a 16-month hiatus in what has been a 13-year peace process.

Some Muslim participants were not hopeful of the outcome.

"After four decades we decided to try a new approach to peace in Mindanao," Estrella Babano, Department of Education director for the northern Mindanao region, told the conference.

"The focus has to be on future generations."

The Mindanao Peace Initiative, launched in September 2008, was designed to address what she said was the lack of a common platform among the various religious, ethnic and social groups in Mindanao. It promotes cooperative projects among those groups across 17 social sectors, from education to sports, and religion to the armed forces.

On Monday, participants are to visit one of the education projects, a "Peace Village" in Lanao del Norte. There Muslim and Christian students share a camp experience and learn about each others traditions.

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