"We condemn this irresponsible act," Basheer al-Najafi, one of Iraq's four top Shiite authorities, said in a statement.

"We call on those responsible to immediately halt this injustice to citizens," Najafi said from his base in the Shrine city of Najaf in central Iraq.

Hundreds of Bahraini riot police early Wednesday launched an assault in Manama's Pearl Square, where protesters inspired by uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt have been camping for weeks demanding political reforms.

Bahrain's mainly Shiite opposition said at least three protesters were killed and dozens wounded in the violent assault.

The assault prompted radical Iraqi Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr to call for protests in Baghdad and the southern city of Basra Wednesday and nationwide demonstrations Friday, "in support of the people of Bahrain," his office said.

Najafi in his statements urged Bahrain's leadership to "avoid violence and sectarian strife, save lives, and take the wise path of negotiation as the best way to save the country."

Wednesday's clashes in Manama came a day after the Sunni King Hamad, boosted by the arrival in the Shiite-majority state of armed forces from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, declared a three-month state of emergency in a bid to quell the protests.

"We were surprised that the Bahraini government asked for forces from neighbouring countries, who targeted villages and people who had raised slogans of peace, and were targetted by gunfire and mortars," Najafi's statement said.

In Bahrain, five of the kingdom's top Shiite clerics had warned on Tuesday that a "horrible massacre is expected at Pearl Square against the people of this (Shiite) sect, only for peacefully demanding their rights."

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