The parties "presented and discussed in a preliminary manner concrete ideas that will be developed at the next round of informal talks to be held in March," Ross said in a press conference at the end of the closed-door talks, held on January 21-23 in Manhasset (suburban New York).

    The parties decided to meet with the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees in Geneva on early February to advance the implementation of family visits by road between Laayoune and Tindouf camps, Ross added, noting that the parties welcomed the resumption on January 7 of these visits by air .

    The fifth informal talks "took place in an atmosphere of serious engagement, frankness, and mutual respect", but "each party continues to reject the proposal of the other as a sole basis for future negotiations,” Ross went on to say.

    Touching on the humanitarian aspect, the delegations representing Morocco, Algeria, Polisario and Mauritania agreed to meet the office of the High Commissioner for Refugees on early February in order to “review in full the implementation of the Plan of Action for the Confidence Building Measures and to advance the implementation of family visits by road,” Ross said.

     Since the third round of informal talks, held in Manhasset in November 2010, the parties engaged in "extensive discussions on innovative approaches to build a new dynamic for this process on the basis of regular meetings,” Ross recalled.

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