Moroccan protesters agree to suspend blockade of Spanish enclave

Morocco border blockade of Spain enclave suspended

MELILLA, Spain — A merchants association says activists in Morocco who have been blockading food shipments into a Spanish enclave have agreed to suspend the protests until the end of Ramadan next month.

Trade association chief Yusef Kaddur said the deal means the intermittent blockade is over for now, but will resume if the problem that triggered it — alleged brutality and racism by Spanish border police against Moroccans entering the enclave of Melilla — flares up again.

The agreement was reached Wednesday, after truckers again halted food shipments from Morocco into Melilla, a Spanish city of 70,000 on the North African coast.