When Italy entered the war the Iraqi government did not break off diplomatic relations, as they had done with Germany. The Italian Legation in Baghdad became the centre for Axis propaganda and for fomenting anti-British feeling. In this they were aided by Mohammad Amin al-Husayni, the British appointee as the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, who had fled from the British Mandate of Palestine shortly before the outbreak of war and later received asylum in Baghdad. In January 1941, there was a political crisis within Iraq as Rashid Ali resigned as Prime Minister of Iraq and was replaced by Taha al-Hashimi; civil war loomed. On 31 March, the Regent of Iraq, Prince 'Abd al-Ilah, learnt of a plot to arrest him and fled Baghdad for RAF Habbaniya, from whence he was flown to Basra and given refuge on the Insect class gunboat HMS "Cockchafer".