* Iraqis rally to support Bahrain protests
* Demonstrations in Basra, Baghdad
By Aref Mohammed
BASRA, Iraq, March 19 (Reuters) - 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 Shi'ites 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 Shi'ites.
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 Shi'ites."
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 Shi'ite majority that complained for decades of oppression under a Sunni ruling class which is dominant throughout the Arab world.
Since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion which toppled Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein and allowed Iraq's Shi'ite majority to take power, Baghdad has had uneasy relations with its Sunni Arab neighbours.
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and his ruling Shi'ite bloc have criticised the intervention by Gulf states in Bahrain. Iraqi Shi'ite clerics, including the country's most revered, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, and anti-U.S. 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 (Shi'ite clergy) declare Jihad." (Additional reporting by Thaier al-Sudani in Baghdad; writing by Serena Chaudhry; editing by Andrew Roche)
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