ملف ١٩١٥/٥٣ الجزء IV "الحرب الألمانية: تركيا؛ الخلافة إلخ" [و‎‎١‎٤‎٧] (٤٨١/٢٩٠)

March 2nd,1916.
<?s
Sir E.Grey.
I told M.Gambon today that we wished to tell
him that the Grand Shereef had informed us that he would
do nothing during the present war to injure the Alliance
between Great Britain and France and the agreement between
them,tut that after the war was over he would take the
first opportunity to ask for the restitution of what might
be given to France at Beyrout and on the coast.
M,
M.Gambon did not take the above very seriesly
and remarked that the Shereef would not be an Arab if he
did not say something of that kind. I tolo him we had not
yet communicated to the Ghereef the proposals as to the
northern limits,as we intended to wait till we had received
the consent of Russia. .
I also told M.Gambon that the Shereef appeared to
be contemplating some kind of action in the direction of
endeavouring to detach the Arab forces in the Turkish army
in Syria. M.Gambon was not much impressed by this,and
> ' observed,as his personal opinion,that if we had obtained
•v j ^
^ T * . rx, •
1 possesBion of Constantinople ,we should have had no difficulty
*
in winning over all the Arabs to our side, (initc). A.h.