On his arrival in Ma'an Abdullah arranged for letters to dispatched to invite the leaders of the Syrian National Congress and notable Transjordanians, to meet him Ma'an and discuss the "firm intentions of the people".[19] Two weeks later, on 5 December, he issued a proclamation which stated that his sole intention was to "expel the invaders".[20] The British had discouraged some of the prominent Transjordanians from allying with Abdullah, including Mazhar Raslan, the mutasarrif of Salt. Rufayfan Pasha, the mutasarrif of Karak, did not go to Ma'an at all, and other officials demanded a guarantee for their army pensions or tried to extract other forms of payment before they would join Abdullah.[19]