"During the upcoming talks, the parties will, as previously agreed, further their discussion of their respective proposals on a settlement," the statement added.
The eighth round of talks would focus on "the issue of the electoral corps and mechanisms for self-determination," it added.
Seven previous rounds of talks over the disputed northwest African territory have ended without any tangible progress, with Morocco and the Polisario Front accusing each other of undermining the process.
In late April, the UN Security Council renewed a UN peace mission in the Western Sahara for another year and mentioned for the first time the need to improve human rights in the Moroccan-occupied territory.
A council resolution calls on Morocco -- which annexed the phosphate-rich desert territory in 1975 -- and the Polisario Front separatists to step up efforts to end Africa`s oldest remaining colonial dispute. Western Sahara is a former Spanish colony.
The Polisario Front has called for a referendum on self-determination, while Morocco has offered greater autonomy, with a local government and parliament. (*)
Editor: Kunto Wibisono
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
