The Moroccan delegation to the talks is composed of Foreign Minister Taïb Fassi Fihri, Director General of intelligence agency (DGED) Mohamed Yassine Mansouri, and Secretary General of the Royal Advisory Council for Saharan Affairs (CORCAS) Maouelainin Benkhalihanna Maouelainin. 

"As agreed by the parties during the seventh round of informal talks in June", delegations of the parties to the conflict over the Sahara “will meet on July 19-21 at Greentree, Long Island” for an eighth informal meeting, the UN said in a statement announcing the new round.

During these talks, the parties will deepen discussions on their positions with a view to find a settlement and examine new ideas proposed by the Secretary-General in paragraph 120 of his report, presented last April and approved by the Security Council in resolution 1979.
They will also have the opportunity to examine the "Status of confidence-building measures, to continue their discussions on the mine clearance and engage in a preliminary review of the specific issue of natural resources," according to the UN statement.

 In a recent speech to the House of Representatives, Mr. Fassi Fihri stated that this new round "will be an opportunity to discuss the details of the themes identified  in previous meetings, and agree on how to approach and involve partners. "

 It "will, also, offer an opportunity to reflect on next steps and ways to boost them while taking into account strong signals contained in the latest resolution of the Security Council (1979) and in the light of events witnessed in the region of North Africa ", the minister said.
The talks, opened in August 2009 in Austria, to prepare the ground for the 5th round of formal negotiations aiming at finding a lasting political solution to the regional dispute over the Sahara.

The informal talks are part of implementing the Security Council resolutions 1813 (2008), 1871 (2009), 1920 (2010) and 1979 (2011), which call on the parties to enter into a more intensive and substantive phase of negotiations.

The seven previous rounds were held successively in August 2009 in the Austrian locality of Durnstein (near Vienna), in February 2010 in Armonk (near New York), in November, December and January in Manhasset, last March in Malta and last June in Manhasset.