BAGHDAD, Iraq - Armed assailants ransacked and burned a provincial office of the Iraqi president’s Kurdish party on Friday, accusing its official newspaper of criticizing a Shia cleric, police said. About 50 gunmen loyal to Shia cleric Ayatollah Mohammed al-Yacoubi stormed the office of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, headed by President Jalal Talabani, beat up the guards and destroyed furniture before setting the building on fire, said police Lt. Othman Al Lami.The attackers fled after seizing three AK-47 rifles from the guards, one of whom was injured, al-Lami said. There were no officials in the office during the early morning raid. Pamphlets distributed by the attackers claimed that the offending article included a July 29 statement by Al Yacoubi in which he spread ¢hatred against the Kurds.” The flyer said the cleric was trying to "ignite a war between the Arab Shias and Kurds” by claiming that Kurds are targeting other ethnic groups. Al-Yacoubi was immediately available for comment, and the claims in the flyer could not be immediately confirmed. Al Yacoubi is the spiritual leader of the Fadhila, or Virtue, party, which is part of Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki’s Shia alliance.