Protests in northern Morocco swell with calls for royal intervention

Ahmed Zefzafi, father of activist and leader of the protest movement Nasser Zefzafi, is pictured in his house in the town of Al-Hoceima, Morocco June 3, 2017. REUTERS/Youssef Boudlal

AL-HOCEIMA, Morocco (Reuters) - Under the banner of the People's Movement, Moroccans have just staged the country's biggest political protest since the "Arab Spring" and some now say that only intervention by their king can defuse a deepening crisis.

For months, demonstrators have taken to the streets in Rif region around the northern city of Al-Hoceima to vent their frustrations over the economic, social and political problems of a kingdom that presents itself as a beacon of stability in a turbulent region.