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| Africa North |
| Spain says Moroccan protestors blockade enclave |
| 2010-08-13 |
| [Al Arabiya Latest] A Spanish police official says Moroccan demonstrators are blockading the border with the Spanish-occupied enclave of Melilla, preventing all trucks from entering it. Thursday's protest is going ahead even though the two countries' kings spoke by telephone Wednesday to try to ease tensions following a series of incidents between Spanish border police and Moroccans. The police official said the border crossing itself is quiet because the demonstrators have apparently erected their blockade further inside Moroccan territory. Melilla has been occupied by Spain for centuries and has some 70,000 people on Morocco's northern coast. It depends heavily on Morocco for products such as fresh fish, fruit and vegetables and construction materials. Spain's King Juan Carlos phoned his Moroccan counterpart, Mohammed VI, Wednesday in a bid to calm tense relations between the two neighbors over a number of recent incidents, the royal palace said. |
| Posted by:Fred |