Najib, accompanied by senior defence ministry officials, is scheduled to hold dinner talks with President Gloria Arroyo after meeting Defence Secretary Angelo Reyes on Monday.

On Tuesday, Najib will be a key speaker at a national conference on regional security entitled "Rethinking Security in the Southeast Asian Region" to be attended by government officials and legislators, among others.

Malaysia and the Philippines have stepped up cooperation in their battle against Islamic militant groups allegedly linked to terror mastermind Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the biggest Muslim separatist organisation in the Philippines, and the smaller Abu Sayyaf kidnap-for-ransom group have both been linked by Manila to the Jemmah Islamiyah (JI), the Asian chapter of al-Qaeda.

Sources said Arroyo and Najib were expected to discuss the security situation in the southern Philippines, where fierce fighting has occurred between government troops and MILF guerillas in recent months after the collapse of a ceasefire agreement.

Arroyo had asked predominantly-Muslim Malaysia to help bring the MILF back to the negotiating table.

The 12,500-strong MILF has been fighting for an independent Islamic state in the southern third of the Philippines since 1978.

SPACE.WIRE