مراسلات متنوعة، تقارير، خرائط وغيرها من الأوراق المتعلقة بالشرق الأوسط [و‎‎٥‎٠] (٢٢٠/١٠٠)

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M S M 0 HAH D U M
on
the extent to which the Anglo-ffrench Agreement of 1916 has
been modified by subsequent French Commitments,
1. The Agreement of 1S16 is a bipartite instrument with no
contingent clauses, and nothing has occurred since its con
clusion to make it juridically invalid.
2. The French Government have always maintained, and still
maintain, that it stands, and they would doubtless represent
the subsequent declarations to which they have committed them
selves as being mere interpretations of points which the
original agreement left vague or blank.
3. The only subsequent French Commitments of any impor
tance are:-
(i) The ,f Projet d'Arrangement" regarding the Arabian
Peninsula, drafted by MM. Sykes and Picot at Paris on the 3rd
v October, 1917, but never signed, ratified, or further nego
tiated upon; and
(ii) The Joint Anglo-French Declaration regarding Syria anc
Mesopotamia, published on the 9th November, 1918.
4. The "Projet" of 1917 is more favourable to us than the
Agreement of 19J.6 on the following points:-
(a) It gives us a free hand to suppress the Arms
Traffic, v/hich the Agreement postponed for future discussion;
(b) The French recognise, under it, the "special political
interests" of Great Britain in the Arabian Peninsula, and
"repeat their firm intention not to seek any political influence
in these regions", whereas the 1916 Agreement merely laid
down that neither contracting party nor any other Power should
acquire territorial possessions in the Peninsula (with a
% f