Excerpts of the Sykes-Picot Agreement, London May 16, 1916

                       (Text of the Anglo-French Section)

1.     France and Great Britain are prepared to recognise and uphold an

independent Arab State or a confederation of Arab States in the areas shown as

(A) and (B) on the annexed map, under suzerainty of an Arab chief. France in

Area (A) and Great Britain in Area (B) shall have a right of priority in

enteprises and local loans. France in Area (A) and Great Britain in Area (B)

shall alone supply foreign advisers or officials on the request of the Arab

State or the Confederation of Arab States.

2.     France in the Blue Area and Great Britain in the Red Area shall be at

liberty to establish such direct or indirect administration or control as they

may desire or as they may deem fit to establish after agreement with the Arab

State or Confederation of Arab States.

3.     In the Brown Area there shall be established an international

administration of which the form will be decided upon after consultation with

Russia, and after subsequent agreement with the other Allies and the

representatives of the Sharif of Mecca.

4.     There shall be accorded to great Britain:

     (a) The ports of Haifa and Acre

     (b) Guarantee of a specific supply of water from the Tigris

         and the Euphrates in Area (A) for Area (B)

His Majesty's Government, on their part, undertake that they will at no time

initiate negotiations for the concession of Cyprus to any third power without

previous consent of the French Government.

5.     Alexandretta shall be a free port as regards the trade of the British

Empire and there shall be no differentiation in treatment with regards to port

dues or the extension of special privileges affecting British shipping and

commerce; there shall be freedom of transit for British goods through

Alexandretta and over railways through the Blue Area, whether such goods are

going to or coming from the Red Area, Area (A) or Area (B); and there shall be

no differentiation in treatment, direct or indirect, at the expense of any port

serving the areas in question.

       Haifa shall be a free port as regards the trade of France, her colonies

and protectorates, and there shall be no differentiation in treatment of

privilege with regard to port dues against French shipping and commerce. There

shall be freedom of transit through Haifa and over British railways through the

Brown Area, whether such goods are coming or going to the Blue Area, Area (A)

or Area (B), and there shall be no differentiation in treatment, direct or

indirect, at the expense of French goods on any railway or of French goods

shipping in any port serving the areas in question.

6.     In Area (A), the Baghdad Railway shall not be extended southwards beyond

Mosul, and in Area (B), it shall not be extended northwards beyond Samarra,

until a railway connecting Baghdad with Aleppo along the basin of the Euphrates

will have been completed, and then only with the concurrence of the two

governments.

7.     Great Britain shall have the right to build, administer and be the sole

owner of the railway connecting Haifa with Area (B). She shall have, in

addition, the right in perpetuity and at all times of carrying troops on that

line. It is understood by both governments that this railway is intended to

facilitate communication between Baghdad and Haifa, and it is further

understood that, in the event of technical difficulties and the expenditure

incurred in the maintenance of this line in the Brown Area rendering the

execution of the project impracticable, the French Government will be prepared

to consider plans for enabling the line in question to traverse the polygon

formed by Banias-Umm Qais-Slakhad Tall `Osda-Mismiyya before reaching Area 

(B).

8.     For a period of twenty years, the Turkish customs tariff shall remain in

force throughout the Blue and Red Areas as well as Areas (A) and (B), and no

increase in the rates of duties and no alteration of ad valorem duties into

specific duties shall be made without the consent of the two Powers.

       There shall be no internal customs barriers between any of the areas

mentioned above. The customs duties to be levied on goods destined for the

interior shall be collected at the ports of entry and remitted to the

administration of the area of destination.

9.     It is understood that the French Government will at no time initiate any

negotiations for the cession of their rights and will not cede their

prospective rights in the Blue Area to any third Power other than an Arab State

or Confederation of Arab States, without the previous consent of His Majesty's

Government who, on their part, give the French Government a similar undertaking

in respect of the Red Area.

10.    The British and French Governments shall agree to abstain from acquiring

and to withhold their consent to a third Power acquiring territorial

possessions in the Arabian Peninsula; nor shall they consent to the

construction by a third Power of a naval base in the islands on the eastern

seaboard of the Red Sea. This, however, will not prevent such rectification of

the Aden boundary as might be found necessary in view of the recent Turkish

attack.

11.    The negotiations with the Arabs concerning the frontiers of the Arab

State or Confederation of Arab States shall be pursued through the same channel

as heretofore in the name of the two Powers.

12.    It is understood moreover that measures for controlling the importation

of arms into the Arab territory will be considered by the two governments.