The NDF and the Philippine Government have agreed to resume peace talks next month in Norway, five years after the negotiations broke down

Despite the positive signs, analysts said chances for an agreement were bleak, especially since President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo leaves office next May and any agreement would have to be followed up by the next government.

"There are no guarantees that the Arroyo administration will dedicate the necessary political will and resources to make the planned Oslo talks in August effectual," Pete Troilo of the consultancy group Pacific Strategies and Assessments (PS&A) told Reuters.

"There is no sudden rush by the NDF to resume the formal talks," Fidel Agcaoili, a member of the NDF peace panel, told Reuters. "The NDF can negotiate with the government as a political entity regardless of who is sitting as the president."