"مذكرة بشأن الالتزامات البريطانية المقدمة للملك حسين" [و‎‎١‎٠‎٣] (٢٠/٣)

July, 1915, definitely
i down the following
i the certainty of such
Tties to offer mutual
3S, to fac^ any foreign
ed without agreement
^rifs third letter to
rieat Britain is their
l of peace, in the face
Actively defend them,
mity with the general
instructions, gave the
h December, 1915 :—
to attach all the Arab
lance to our enemies,
.ctive measures which
en the time tor action
riust depend.
iy the Government of
Great Britain has no
freedom of the Arab
ot form an essential
r to Sir H. McMahon,
frcJm the dead, in the
red letter " (p. 11^).
on since that date has
;o Sir B. Wingate, on
of the Hejaz;;—
3tand for the cause of
to stand by the Arab
j world, in which law
he artificial rivalries
, re -affirm their former
b peoples. Liberation
intend to pursue with
already liberated from
itiil under the yoke ot
Jer (iii), (iv) and (v).
Vaces.
on the 2nd November,
i and Turkey, which to
1-advised, unprovoked,
cellency the Viceroy is
wing public announce-
ment in regard to the Holy Places of Arabia, including the Holy Shrines of
Mesopotamia and the Port of Jeddah, in order that there may be no imsutH er-
st,mding on the part of His Majesty's most loyal Moslem subjects as to the attitude
of His Majesty's Government in this war, in which no question ol a religious
character is involved. These Holy Places and Jeddah will be immune from attack
or molestation by British naval and military forces, so long as there is no inter
ference with pilorims from India to the Holy Places and Shrines in question. At
the request of His Majesty's Government, the Governments of P ranee and Russia
have £riven similar assurances (p. *-3).
o ^
A much looser pledge, extending to the whole of Arabia, was given in a Foreign
Office telegram of the 14th November, 1914, to the High (Commissioner, Cairo:
" His Majesty's Government have no intention of undertaking any military
or naval operations in Arabia, or against its ports, unless such a course becomes
necessary for the protection of Arabian interests agriinsi luikis i oi '' llt l
aggression, or in support of any attempt by the Arabs to free themse \ ts i •m
Turkish rule."
On the 14th April, 1915. the Foreign Office (acting on the strength ot a letter-
addressed by Seyyid Sir Ali Morghani, Grand Kadi of the Sudan, to Sir B. Wingate—
then Sirdar—and forwarded by him) telegraphed to the iligh ( ommissioner, Cairo . -
u You should inform Sir B. Wingate that he is authorised by me to let it be
known, should he think it desirable, that His Majesty's Government will make it an
essential condition in the terms of peace that the Arabian Peninsuia, ana its
Mohammedan Holy Places should remain in the hands oi an inuepenoent
Sovereign State " (p. 30 ).
This was communicated to Sir Ali Morghani, and by him, apparently, to
Sherit Husein. Later, towards the end of June, the substance of it was embodied
in proclamations distributed in Egypt, the Sudan, and Arabia. ^
In October, when the negotiations with the Sherif were well advanced, 1" aroki
(a member of one of the Arab Nationalist organisations in the Ottoman army, who
had passed over to the British lines at Gallipoli and had been brought to Egypt in
October) submitted suggestions to the High Commissioner for assurances to the bherit,
one of them being that " England will guarantee the Holy Places against external
aggression and recognise their inviolability (p. 51). Sir H. McMahon communicated
this in a private telegram to Sir K. Grey on the 18th October, 1915. Instructions were
sent him in a Foreign Office telegram of the 20th October, 1915, and embodied by him
in his second letter, dated the 24th October, 1915, to Sherif Husein. In this letter
Faroki's suggested assurance regarding the Holy Places was conveyed verbatim.
Finally, the following declaration was made in an official communique published
on the 29th July, 1916, in Egypt, after the Sherif s revolt, with the authorisation of
the Foreign Office:—
u It remains the fixed policy of Great Britain to abstain from all interference
in religious matters and to spare no effort to secure Holy Places of Islam from all
external aggression.
It is an unalterable point of British policy that those Holy Places should
remain under independent Moslem rule and authority.
" The present state of war places many difficulties and dangers in the way of
those wishing to perform the pilgrimage, but the action taken bv the Sherif of
Mecca gives rise to hopes that arrangements may be made whereby the pilgrims
may in the coming year visit the Holy Shrines in peace and security" (p. 57,
Part II).
Relation of Commitments under (ii) to British desiderata :—
No conflict.
(iii.) Boundaries of Arab Independence.
In the Foreign Office telegram of the 14th April, 1915 (No. 173), to the
High Commissioner, Cairo (quoted in section (ii) above), His Majesty's Government
committed themselves to a public declaration that " they will make it an essential
condition in the terms of peace that the Arabian Peninsula should remain in the hands