a government. Nabulsi's 11-member cabinet, included 7 ministers from the NSP, one from the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party, one Communist, and two independents. One of Nabulsi's first measures as prime minister: he merged the Arab Legion with the Palestinian-dominated National Guard, creating a 35,000-strong Jordanian Army. Two days after his ascension to government, Egypt under Gamal Abdel Nasser was invaded by a tripartite alliance consisting of Britain, France, and Israel. Nabulsi also decided to establish diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union and allowed the CFJ to publish a weekly newspaper. However, on 2 February 1957, the king warned against this in a speech directed to Nabulsi, saying "We want this country to be inaccessible to Communist propaganda and Bolshevik theories." Heeding to Hussein's request, Nabulsi ordered the CFJ's paper to be banned. Nabulsi was known to be an admirer of Nasser, and so called for Jordan to join an Arab federation with Egypt and Syria thereby reducing King Hussein to a figurehead. Relations between the cabinet and the king were further strained when Hussein dispatched personal envoys to Cairo, Damascus, and Jeddah in March 1957 with messages not vetted by the government. In response, Nabulsi presented the king with formal requests to retire senior public servants, threatening his cabinet would resign and take to the streets if the requests were refused. Hussein initially appealed, but after Nabulsi prepared a new list, Hussein sent him a letter warning him that he would be dismissed. On 8 April, an army brigade commanded by Nader Rashid, an Arab nationalist officer, departed from its garrison in Zarqa — under orders from the nationalist chief of staff, Ali Abu Nuwar, and without authorization from Hussein — and positioned itself to control the access road to the capital Amman. Upon hearing of the brigade's movements, Hussein ordered they retreat back to their base, to which they complied. Hussein viewed Nuwar and Rashid's actions as part of a conspiracy to topple him and enter a union with the United Arab Republic. Two days later, Nabulsi was pressured to hand in his resignation by senior royalist officials, which he did. That was followed by an alleged coup attempt on 10 April by Abu Nuwar. On 22 April, Nabulsi attended the Patriotic Congress in Nablus, which brought together opponents of the monarchy. The conference called for a federation with the United Arab Republic, the establishment of a 16-member presidential