At a meeting in a railway car in Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne on April 19, 1917, a provisional agreement was reached between British and French Prime Ministers David Lloyd George and Alexandre Ribot, as well as with Italian Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Paolo Boselli and Sidney Sonnino, to settle Italian interests in the Ottoman Empire. in particular Article 9 of the Treaty of London. [38] The agreement was necessary by the Allies to secure the position of the Italian armed forces in the Middle East. Hussein`s letter of 18 February 1916 appealed to McMahon for £50,000 in gold, plus weapons, ammunition and food, stating that Feisal was awaiting the arrival of “no less than 100,000 people” for the planned revolt, and McMahon`s reply of 10 March 1916 confirmed British approval of the questions and closed the ten letters of correspondence. In April and May, discussions were launched by Sykes on the benefits of a meeting in which Picot and the Arabs were to participate in order to articulate the desiderate of the two sides. At the same time, logistics were managed in relation to the promised revolt and Hussein`s impatience with the measures increased. Finally, at the end of April, McMahon was informed of Sykes-Picot`s terms and he and Grey agreed that they would not be communicated to the Arabs. [54] [55]:57-60 U.S. President Woodrow Wilson had rejected all secret agreements between allies and encouraged public diplomacy as well as ideas of self-determination. . .

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