The head of this larger state entity could distribute resources and raise taxes through religious millet, not geography. In fact, the remaining Ottoman qadas or counties and the current religious foundations or waqfs could help manage the plan. The only problem would be to find a suitable way to appoint a chief to serve as a modern version of a sultan. In May, Clayton told Balfour that in response to a proposal that the deal was being challenged, Picot had “allowed a significant revision to be necessary given the changes in the situation since the agreement was drafted,” but still believed that “the agreement applies in principle in all cases.” In the chain of agreements between France, Russia and Great Britain, the Russian claims were first approved: France confirmed their approval on the 26th. April and the UK on May 23 with formal sanctions on October 23. The Anglo-French agreement was confirmed in an exchange of letters on 9 and 16 May. [37] The Frenchman elected Picot as French High Commissioner for the soon-to-be-occupied territory of Syria and Palestine. The British appointed Sykes chief political officer of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force. On April 3, 1917, Sykes met with Lloyd George, Curzon, and Hankey to obtain his instructions in this regard, namely to keep the French next door and at the same time to lobby for a British Palestine. First Sykes in early May, then Picot and Sykes visited hejayz together later in May to discuss the deal with Faisal and Hussein. [55]:166 Hussein was persuaded to accept a formula that precalculated that the French in Syria would follow the same policy as the British in Baghdad; as Hussein believed that Baghdad would be part of the Arab state, this had finally satisfied him. Subsequent reports from participants expressed doubts about the exact nature of the discussions and the extent to which Hussein had actually been informed of Sykes-Picot`s conditions.
[61] Even though its lines did not correspond to the political boundaries of the region after World War II, the Sykes-Picot agreement, born in the corridors of colonial power, became something much greater in the minds of many in the Arab world. .What Was The Problem With The Sykes And Picot Agreement
