 In spring 1933 , Malik Yaqu , a former Levies ' officer , was engaged in a propaganda campaign on behalf of Mar Shimun trying to persuade the Assyrians not to apply for an Iraqi nationality or accept the settlement offered to them by the central government . <unk> was accompanied by 200 armed men which was seen as an act of defiance by the Iraqi authorities . His activities caused distress among the Kurds and the Iraqi government started sending its army to the Dohuk region in order to intimidate Yaqu and dissuade the Assyrians from joining his cause . 
