Thousands of Iraqis protested in the southern oil hub of Basra on Saturday against the presence of Saudi troops in Bahrain, which has highlighted Iraq's own sectarian divide after years of war. Anger has been mounting among Shias in Iraq, Lebanon and Iran over the movement of troops from Sunni Arab states to help Bahrain's Sunni royal family stifle pro-democracy demonstrations by majority Shias.
Bahrain said on Friday more troops were coming from other Gulf states to help restore security. It has swept protesters from a central square and arrested opposition leaders. Saturday's protests saw around 7,000 people, including local government officials and clerics, demonstrate in central Basra, Iraq's second largest city.
"The clock of change is ticking. After Bahrain, the Saudi king is next," protesters shouted. "Woe to those hostile to Shias." Similar large demonstrations were held in Baghdad and Najaf on Friday. A small demonstration took place in Baghdad on Saturday.
Like Bahrain, Iraq has a Shia majority that complained for decades of oppression under a Sunni ruling class, which is dominant throughout the Arab world. Since the 2003 US-led invasion, which toppled Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein and allowed Iraq's Shia majority to take power, Baghdad has had uneasy relations with its Sunni Arab neighbours.
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and his ruling Shia bloc have criticised the intervention by Gulf states in Bahrain. Iraqi Shia clerics, including the country's most revered, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, and anti-US cleric Moqtada al-Sadr have spoken out against the crackdown in Bahrain. "The Saudi government practices a double standard. On the one hand it is with the Libyan people, and on the other hand it is (flexing) a strong arm against Bahrain's people and suppressing them," said Muhanad Sahib, a 41-year-old professor demonstrating in Basra. "Support for the Bahraini people is a religious and moral duty. Let the Marjaiya (Shia clergy) declare Jihad."
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