The Philippine government and Muslim rebels will sign a deal next month on ancestral rights, paving the way for a final peace pact by September, the Philippine foreign secretary said on Friday. The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has been fighting for an independent state for Muslims on the southern island of Mindanao, although a truce has held since July 2003. Negotiators from the two sides, meeting in Malaysia, in February agreed to a preliminary deal on “ancestral domain,” the key to ending a nearly four-decade revolt that has cost more than 120,000 lives. Full Story