ملف ٧٠٥/١٩١٦ الجزء ٢ "انتفاضة عربية: التقارير العربية؛ تقارير السير م. سايكس" [و‎‎٨‎٩] (٤٥٠/١٧٥)

SECRET.
For Reference only.
ARABIAN REPORT.
N.S. No. XV. October 25, 1916 (night).
A A
Contents.
PART 1.
The Sherif of Mecca.
The Sirdar’s Position.
The Sherif’s Operations.
The Defence of Rabeg-h.
French Help for the Sherif.
Indian Officers’ Visit to the Sherif.
The Pilgrimag'e.
Colonel Parker.
Ibn Rashid.
Ibn Sand.
Maskat.
Koweyt and the Trucial Coast.
Bahrein.
PART II.
Political Notes from the Fields of Operations,
Aden.
PART III.
Miscellaneous. ’
An Arab Newspaper for Propaganda Purposes
Arab Bureau.
Moslem Prisoners of War.
The Oerman Society, Islam Kultur.
APPENDIX (A).
Letter from His Highness the Aga Khan.
APPENDIX (B)!
Two Reports of Colonel Wilson’s.
APPENDIX (C).
j Miscellaneous Cuttings from the Press.
Italy and Asia Minor.
VART I.
THE SHEEIF OF MECCA.
The Sirdar s Position.
On the 18th October Sir H. McMahon transmitted [No. 914] a telegram received
by him from the Sirdar asking that all communications, political and military, passing
between England, Egypt, and India, and bearing on his responsibilities, might be
communicated to him ; and asking whether it would save misunderstanding if he
telegraphed direct to London and repeated to Cair o ; he also enquired as to his position
in regard to the naval commander-in-chief. On the 20 th October Sir H. McMahon
informed the Foreign Office [No. 919] that he had informed the Sirdar that all
communications bearing on the Arab movement had been and would be communicated
to him ; that he understood that on military matters the Sirdar would communicate
direct with the War Office, but that communications on other matters should be sent
through him unless the Foreign Office should otherwise direct; that when necessary he
had better address the naval commander-in-chief directly, repeating to Cairo, but in most
cases it would suffice to communicate with the senior naval officer in the Red Sea, to
whom wide authority had been delegated. Sir H. McMahon added that it was
important for him to know what passed between the Sirdar and the naval authorities.
As to the delegation of authority, Sir H. McMahon had remarked in a telegram
[No. 905] to the Foreign Office on the 16th October that the need of such important
alterations as he had made in the Sirdar’s proposed communication to the Sherif
illustrated the difficulty he felt in formulating such [group undecypherable] to him, even
in Hejaz matters, as would preclude the possibility of inconvenient overlapping with
wider issues. But on the 20 th October he telegraphed [No. 918] that he had informed
the Sirdar that, in regard to the delegation of political authority, in the control of local
political matters which concerned Hejaz only, and did not relate to outside affairs or
affect the general policy of the Arab movement, the best arrangement would be for him
[898—14] B