 From the beginning the Damascus government began an overwhelmingly anti-Iraqi Ba 'athist propaganda campaign, to which their counterparts in Baghdad responded. However, the Iraqi Ba'athists helped Assad, who at the 4th Regional Congress of the Syrian Regional Branch called for the reunification of the Ba 'ath Party, in his attempt to seize power from Jadid. It was reported that Assad promised the Iraqis to recognize Aflaq's historical leadership. Iraq's foreign minister Abd al-Karim al-Shaykli even had his own personal office in the Syrian Ministry of Defence, which Assad headed. However, this should not be misconstrued, the Iraqi Regional Branch was Arab nationalist in name only, and was in fact Iraqi nationalist.
