The attack was the culmination of a nearly three-year-old battle between two rival party factions, each of which claims to be the “true” Ghad party. The conflict came to a head as the party was set to choose a new leader on November 7.

The party has been divided since Ayman Nour, its president, was sentenced to a five-year term in jail in December 2005 for allegedly forging signatures on the party’s application for official recognition by the Shura Council’s Political Parties Affairs Committee. Nour was handed his sentence after standing as Al-Ghad’s candidate in the 2005 presidential elections, in which the outspoken leader won 12 percent of the popular vote, finishing second to President Hosni Mubarak after a hard-fought campaign.

Moussa Mustafa Moussa, also among the founding members of Al-Ghad and the party’s deputy leader, then assumed the mantle of leadership. The Shura Council’s Political Parties Affairs Committee has sided with his claim to leadership and a court recently awarded him custody of the headquarters. Throughout, the pro-government Moussa has been challenged by both the jailed Nour and his wife, the former journalist Gamila Ismail, who have backed the membership’s election of party presidents to one-year terms.

There have been several conflicts between the fronts during Nour’s imprisonment, though this incident has been the most public and the most violent.

The conflict was brought into the open after Ehab El-Kholy stepped down as party president in early October after a one-year presidency, opening the way for a new leader. The party was supposed to hold elections under the legal supervision of Abd El Menaem El Tonsy, Head of the Council of Elders, a collection of party members over 65 year old who supervise the activities of both factions.

However, at 9am the day before the election, Moussa, surrounded by hundreds of men, marched down Talaat Harb Street holding banners with the party’s logo and slogans and wearing T-shirts that said, “Moussa Mustafa Moussa is the president of Al-Ghad party and we will not allow another president.” The public prosecutor’s office has since said that several of those with Moussa appear to have been hired thugs, not party members.

When they arrived in front of Al-Ghad’s headquarters, the participants went from cheering to throwing rocks at the party’s second-floor windows and trying unsuccessfully to force open the gate of the building. The men threw Molotov cocktails, breaking windows, and setting fire to the inside of the office. The events were photographed and videotaped by passersby and members of the leftist opposition party Al-Tagamou, whose headquarters are across the street.

The fire burned for two hours. The attackers stopped traffic on the street and broke shop windows in Talaat Harb Square, including a window of the well-known Groppi Cafe. Photos published in local dailies Al-Badeel and Al-Masry Al-Youm show the attackers cheering, clapping and laughing after the attack while standing on parked cars.

Several of the 30-plus party members who were in the office during the fire suffered smoke inhalation, but there were no other injuries as a result of the fire. El-Kholy, however, suffered a heart attack from smoke inhalation and stress and was taken to hospital.

“I’m devastated physically,” he said in an interview with Egypt Today. “This is beyond overwhelming to me. I can’t think, I can’t act and I can’t do anything.” When he regained consciousness in the hospital, he was taken to the police station for questioning. A few hours later, party members who had been inside the building were ordered to go to Kasr El-Aini police station for allegedly burning down their own office.

When El-Tonsy, 76, who is also a former member of the People’s Assembly, went to check on the arrested members, he says that the police wanted to detain him as well for what they say was his part in the fire.

Nour Ayman Nour, the son of Nour and Ismail, says that he and his mother received warnings about the attack and threats that lives would be jeopardized if the elections were not canceled. Ismail claims that though she had informed the public prosecutor about the threat and requested extra security forces, the streets were empty of security officers that day.

El-Tonsy, who was told about the threats from Ismail, had asked the candidates to decide on a new president in a closed session to avoid trouble, but says the candidates insisted on an open process.

Nour, who wasn’t able to be with his mother the day of the attack because he had classes at university, gave her his two large Saint Bernard dogs as protection. Ismail spent the night before the attack in the headquarters, a property owned jointly by herself and her husband, saying, “This is my apartment and my husband’s law firm and no one can get me out of it.”

A number of Central Security trucks typically sit parked in front of the party’s office and police officers in civilian clothing sit at the building’s gate. It is a familiar scene to the residents of the neighborhood, but on November 6, there were no security trucks or police and the attack went on for nearly three hours before officers arrived at the scene, say eyewitnesses.

An employee from a shop in Talaat Harb Square, who refused to give his name for fear of being questioned by the authorities, said, “How come the police weren’t there? We were all asking. Where were they that day? If they didn’t care about the controversial party member’s safety, at least care about the lives of the residents of the area that were jeopardized.”

At 10am the day of the conflict, El-Tonsy was on his way to the party’s office. He says that there were several security trucks on Kasr El-Aini Street, not far from Talaat Harb Square, and was surprised that they didn’t move to contain the violence.

Since the attack, Ismail and Moussa have debated on the prominent evening television shows Al-Ashera Mas’an and Al-Qahera Al-Yom. Moussa accused Ismail of being an agent of the United States and questioned her patriotism. Ismail accused Moussa of being an agent of the government. She said that since Moussa is also an NDP member, he shouldn’t consider himself an opposition leader.

Moussa responded to the photos and allegations published in the local press saying that “[El-Badeel and Al-Youm Al-Saba’a] are bad newspapers, those who are running them are bad and they don’t know what they’re doing.” In the interview on Al-Ashera Mas’an, Moussa said he and his men were in the area for a peaceful march. Ismail alleges the attackers were men that Moussa hired to ruin the election day and take over the party’s headquarters. Moussa denied the allegations and told Ismail, “if you continue to hold elections, it will backfire on you.”

Ameer Salem, Al-Ghad’s legal counsel, presented a petition to the public prosecutor to have the names of Ismail, Wael Nawara, El-Kholy, and the other party members who were inside the office removed from the list of suspects. He also presented documents and pictures as evidence against Moussa and his men.

He demanded Moussa, Ragab Helal Hemida (a member in the People’s Assembly and Moussa’s vice-president) as well as the attackers shown in the photos all be brought in for questioning. El-Tonsy says that he will also take legal action against those who took the party members from inside the building to the police station.

The office is now under police seal, with no new election date in sight. et