Abu Musa was adamant in his opposition to Mu'awiya. Madelung views the verdict about Uthman as a political one, a judicial misjudgment, and a blunder of the naive Abu Musa, who might have hoped that Amr would later reciprocate his concession. From the perspective of Abu Musa himself, his verdict did not authorize Mu'awiya to claim the caliphate, a prerogative which was reserved for the Muhajirun in his view, as reported by Ibn al-Athir and Ibn Muzahim. The verdict was not made public but both parties came to know about it anyway. In particular, Ali denounced the conduct of the two arbitrators as contrary to the Quran and began organizing a new expedition to Syria. Second meeting Evidently not endorsed by Ali, the second meeting was convened in Udhruh in January 659, or in August-September 658, probably to discuss the succession to Ali. Not part of the arbitration process, this second meeting was solely an initiative of Mu'awiya, who also invited the sons of prominent companions to take part, including Abd-Allah ibn Umar, Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Bakr, Abd-Allah ibn al-Zubayr, al-Mughira ibn Shu'ba, and some others. Some of these were from Hejaz and had remained neutral throughout the conflict, perhaps lured to Udhruh by the promise of a broad for choosing the next caliph. Their presence was nevertheless a major coup, suggests Madelung, because Hejaz was still controlled by Ali at the time. In particular, that Abd-Allah ibn Umar accepted the invitation of Mu'awiya hints at his interest in the caliphate, contrary to the rumors showing him uninterested. The negotiations failed eventually, as the two arbitrators could not agree on the next caliph: Amr supported Mu'awiya, while Abu Musa nominated his son-in-law Abd Allah ibn Umar, who stood down in the interest of unity by his own account, or more likely because he was intimidated by Mu'awiya, who also publicly threatened him in the closing gala. As for the final scene of the Udhruh meeting, one popular account is that Abu Musa deposed both Ali and Mu'awiya and called for a council to appoint the new caliph per his earlier agreement with Amr. When Amr took the stage, however, he deposed Ali but confirmed Mu'awiya as the new caliph, thus violating his agreement with Abu Musa. Similar variants of this account are recounted by Ibn Muzahim and al-Kufi. The Kufan delegation then reacted furiously to Abu Musa's concessions, and