About 50 gunmen stormed the office of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, headed by President Jalal Talabani, beat up the guards and set the building on fire, said police Lt. Othman al-Lami. The attackers accused the party's official newspaper of criticizing Shiite cleric Ayatollah Mohammed al-Yacoubi.
Pamphlets distributed by the attackers in Kut said the newspaper accused al-Yacoubi of trying to "ignite a war between the Arab Shiites and Kurds" by claiming that Kurds are targeting other ethnic groups. The largely Sunni Kurds are a separate, non-Arab ethnic group.
The attackers fled after seizing three AK-47 rifles from the guards, al-Lami said. There were no officials in the office during the early morning raid.
Al-Yacoubi was not immediately available for comment, and the flyers' claims could not immediately be verified. Al-Yacoubi is the spiritual leader of the Fadhila, or Virtue, party, which is part of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's Shiite alliance.
http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/news/breaking_news/15251201.htm
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