It was decided that the Syrians and the residents of Kufa should nominate an arbitrator, each to decide between 'Ali and Mu'awiya. The Syrians' choice fell on 'Amr ibn al-'As who was the rational soul and spokesman of Muawiya, and was one of the generals involved in conquering Syria and also Egypt. A few years earlier 'Amr ibn al-'As with 9,000 men in Palestine had found himself confronting Heraclius' 100,000 man army until Khalid crossed the Syrian desert from Mesopotamia to assist him. He was a highly skilled negotiator and had previously been used in negotiations with the Heraclius the Roman Emperor. Ali wanted Malik Ashtar or Abdullah bin 'Abbas to be appointed as an arbitrator for the people of Kufa, but the Qurra strongly demurred, alleging that men like these two were responsible for the war and, therefore, ineligible for that office of trust. They nominated Abu Musa al-Ash'ari as their arbitrator (during the time of 'Uthman, they had appointed Abu Musa al-Ash'ari as the Governor of Kufa and removed 'Uthman's governor before they started fighting 'Uthman). Ali found it expedient to agree to this choice in order to ward off bloody dissension in his army. According to "Usd al-G̲h̲āba", Ali therefore took care to personally explain to the arbitrators, "You are arbiters on condition that you decide according to the Book of God, and if you are not so inclined you should not deem yourselves to be arbiters."