abdullah had appointed sharif 'ali bin al-husayn al-harithi as an emissary to go north on his behalf and rudd notes that by early february 1921 the british had concluded that "the sherif's influence has now completely replaced that of the local governments and of the british advisers in trans-jordania, and [that] it must be realised that if and when abdullah does advance northwards in the spring, he will be considered by the majority of the population to be the ruler of that country.". abdullah arrived in amman on 2 march and sent awni abd al-hadi to jerusalem to reassure samuel who insisted that transjordan could not be used as a base from which to attack syria and asked that abdullah await churchill's arrival at cairo.