Ayman Nour’s Revenge Cycle Continuous

Cairo - A pre-dawn fire gutted the headquarters of jailed Egyptian opposition leader Ayman Nour on Thursday, and his supporters blamed the government, accusing it of trying to add to the woes of a man who tried to challenge President Hosni Mubarak in elections.

The fire wrecked the entire first floor of the headquarters and blackened the exterior, but caused no injuries. Police said the blaze was caused by an electrical problem.But Nour's supporters accused the government, saying they were trying to eliminate one of his last strongholds after his imprisonment.

"They are striking against us and all the opposition on a daily basis now," Gamila Ismail, Nour's wife and a leading member of his Al-Ghad Party, told The Associated Press. "The strike this time is at a place on the grass-roots level, where we had direct contact with the people."

"For the past year, members of the (ruling National Democratic Party) have made threats to scare those who go to the building," the Al-Ghad Party said in a statement on the fire. "NDP officials have been demanding almost daily that it be closed. More …