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I recall that a meeting was held at the home of the late Mahmud Salman, who was commander of the air force, to decide on a course for Iraq and the Arab countries to follow during the war. After lengthy discussion, the following was decided:

1 - Abide by the terms of the Anglo-Iraqi Treaty, avoid conflict with England and adhere to neutrality.

2 - Avoid angering the Axis powers (which were then at the height of their victories).

3 - Make efforts to arm the Iraqi army, increase its numbers and avoid squandering it.

4 - Avoid entering the war and take care that Arab strength is not exhausted for Britain’s sake, because its victory is not in the Arabs’ interests, because it will turn against them as it did after the First World War, and because it will give no weight to its pledges concerning the Palestine cause.

5 - Wait until the course of the war and the orientations of the belligerent powers become clear, so that if Britain persists in its obstinacy, colonial policy and partiality toward the Jews, Russia and Japan join Germany and Italy in the war, and the opportunity becomes favorable, all the Arab countries must then take a decisive stand against the English.

6 - When the awaited opportunity arises, proclaim revolt in Palestine in particular, to rescue it from the clutches of colonialism and Zionism.

The British embassy in Baghdad kept sending warnings and protests to the Iraqi government over my presence in Baghdad and my close ties with a number of sincere freedom-loving men. Nuri Pasha, during his premiership, even suggested to me kindly that I travel to the United States of America to contact its officials and win the American people’s sympathy for the Palestine cause. When I told him that many obstacles prevented this, he undertook to overcome them.

In the spring of 1941, Colonel “Donovan,” the envoy of American President Roosevelt to the Arab countries, arrived in Baghdad to persuade their leaders of the need to cooperate with England in this war. I learned from Sayyid Tawfiq al-Suwaydi, then Foreign Minister, that Donovan wished to meet me. When I met him, he informed me that he carried a message which American President Roosevelt had instructed him to convey to