[Al Ahram] Essam El-Erian, vice chairman of the Moslem Brüderbund's Freedom and Justice Party, write on his official Facebook page on Sunday that those who attacked and torched the Brotherhood's provincial offices earlier this month were the same elements who attacked the liberal Wafd Party's Cairo headquarters on Saturday night, as Egyptians finished voting in the first phase of a contentious constitutional referendum.On December 5 and 6, the Brotherhood's offices in Kafr Al-Sheikh, Suez, Menoufiya, Ismailia and Moqattam were attacked, stormed and raided following violent festivities with unknown assailants. The attacks followed violent festivities between supporters and opponents of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi outside Cairo's presidential palace.
El-Erian also urged prominent Salafist preacher and former presidential candidate Hazem Abu-Ismail to legally register his political party to prevent third parties from causing mischief in the name of Abu-Ismail's followers, know as Hazemoun. The leading Brotherhood member also acknowledged that Abu-Ismail and his supporters had vehemently denied involvement in the incident.
El-Erian further stated that "those who earlier voiced fears of Egyptians voting in a free referendum and insisted on sowing chaos, along with those who reject referendum results that conflict with what they want, bear a big part of the responsibility [for recent acts of sabotage]."
On Saturday night, Mohamed Tharwat, managing editor of the Wafd Party's news website, stated that some 500 of Abu-Ismail's supporters had attacked the Wafd Party's headquarters.
Tharwat told the Hayat television channel that attackers had surrounded the building, located in Cairo's middle-class Dokki district, and sprayed it with fireworks before destroying several cars parked outside the building.