File 53/1915 Part IV 'German War: Turkey; Caliphate etc' [‎181r] (358/481)

No 16
The Residency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India. ,
Cairo.
January 24th 1916
Sir
With reference to ny despatch No 172 Secret of
December 14 1915 I have the honour to inform you
that Orayfan, the messenger'Of the Sherif of ? ecca
hm now returned , bearing the Sherif'e reply to
my letter of December 14 . A translation of this
c > muni cation and also of an enioire f ^iven
by the Sherif to Ms messenger, of the verbal
messages entrusted to him, are herewith enclosed;
together with a summary of other inf unation given
by Orayfan .
Thn fherif' s lelMr is, I co ider, of a sat
isfactory nature. He has howeveniiot failed, it will
be noted, to seize uoon the suggestion which with
i .-e approval expressed in your telegram Ho 961 of
December 10 , conveyed with other verbal mess
ages tout accompanied my last letter .
The fine has not arrived for considering further
this or other solution of the HenopoteMon question,
nor do I gather that we are now asked to do so .
Everything will depend not only on the extent and
success of Arab co-operation during the War , but on
the nature of the conditions unaer which both we and
the Arabs may find ourselves in regard to Hesopotomia
at the conclusion of the far .
Some
The Right Honour' bie
Hir E Grey Bart, K.G., M.P.,