ABSTRACT

On 12 February 1917, Fuad al-Khatib, King Hussein's Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, declared at a meeting with Hogarth in Cairo that the future Arab Kingdom ought to include Syria and Damascus. Hussein showed his hand first in April 1917, during a meeting with Wilson, when he complained that the British were going back on their promises. He declared that he was in possession of a letter from McMahon "giving him the whole of Syria and Mesopotamia. The Foreign Office was firmly committed to the Agreement and the joint mission of Sykes and Picot was designed to give it effect. On the other hand, Hussein's ambitions seemed to be spiraling into a collision with the interests of the Allies. In the given circumstances, continued secrecy was bound to engender ill-will and suspicion. Both political and moral considerations called for frankness and plain talk.