The British Colonial Secretary told the House of Commons that the British Government was in communication with the Governments of Egypt, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Transjordan and Yemen in order to arrange a conference on Palestine. Syria and Lebanon, within the French sphere of influence, were not to be invited, although the British Government had undertaken to keep the French Government informed. The British excluded the Mufti of Jerusalem from the proposed conference on the grounds that they would not receive anyone whom they considered to be implicated in the campaign of violence which had been conducted in the mandated territory.