During 1920 a popular uprising had broken out in Mesopatamia, which had been occupied by the British since World War I. The British army had suffered hundreds of casualties. and sections of the British press were calling for the ending of British control. T.E. Lawrence, whose wartime activities were beginning to capture the public imagination and who had strong attachments to the Husain dynasty based in the Hejaz, was lobbying the British Government on behalf of Emir Feisal. The Emir's attempt to establish a kingdom with Damascus as its capital had been thwarted by the French army. In November 1920 Feisal's older brother Abdullah appeared with several hundred followers in the town of Ma'an and announced his intention of attacking the French occupation in modern-day Syria and Lebanon and restoring his brother to power there.