ABSTRACT
Sykes was to interpose himself between Picot and the British commander-in-chief who, under military law, was naturally the ultimate authority in occupied enemy territory. Sykes correctly pointed out that annexation was not mentioned in the Asia Minor agreement, though it was open to the signatories to annex certain areas. Picot, reporting to his government on his discussions with Husayn, ended his account by saying: In sum, the King now knows their agreements which has not upset him as much as had been feared. That the terms of the Asia Minor agreement were revealed to Husayn at the first interview with Sykes and Picot is, finally, confirmed by the contemporary testimony of Fuad al-Khatib. Husayn's declaration to Picot that 'he would be content if the French Government pursued the same policy towards Arab aspirations on Moslem Syrian Littoral as British did in Baghdad' was, then, clearly linked to the arrangements mooted in the Sykes-Picot agreement.
