Negotiators from the Thai government and a key rebel group have agreed an updated roadmap aimed at bringing peace to the kingdom's restive deep south after two days of talks in Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian host said Wednesday.

After a one-year break, talks resumed Tuesday between representatives of the Thai government and the separatist Barisan Revolusi Nasional movement, in search of an end to the conflict that has claimed more than 7,300 lives in the Muslim-majority region since 2004.

Both sides have agreed in principle to an "improved" peace roadmap, the Malaysian facilitator Zulkifli Zainal Abidin told reporters, and technical meetings will be held to iron out the details later this month and in March.

The focus will be on ending hostilities and public consultation, Zulkifli said.

The two sides hope to agree a ceasefire covering the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which starts on March 10, and the Thai festival of Songkran in mid-April.

Thailand's southernmost provinces -- heavily policed by security forces -- are culturally distinct from the rest of the Buddhist-majority kingdom, which took control of the area bordering Malaysia over a century ago.

Rebels in the region have waged a low-level insurgency over the last two decades, carrying out regular attacks targeting security forces and symbols of the Thai state as they battle for greater autonomy.