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hisfather.Withinthesharifiancamp,conflictsexistedbetweenthe
son,whowasphysicallycutofffromtheHijazandhadmovednorth
intotheBritishorbit,andHusayn."
InLondon,concernabouttheissueintheWarCabinetfocused
lessonassuagingHusayn'shostilitythanonprotectingBritain'spost-
warpositionintheMiddleEastagainstFrance.TheFrench,hoping
togaincontrolofmost,or alargepart,ofpostwarSyria,hadturned
theirattentiontowardtheinfluentialFaysalandawayfromhis fa-
ther.France'seventualunderstandingwithBritain,accordingtowhich
FranceagreedtodominantBritishinfluenceintheArabianPenin-
sula,alsoresultedinthereductionofFrance'sinterestthere."
TheGermansapparentlyknewlittleofHusayn'sangertowardhis
allies.On 19 July,however,BernstorffinformedBerlinthathis Arab
sourcesheldtheviewthatthesharifwasnotentirelypro-English.
TheambassadorsurveyedthesporadicandunsuccessfulTurkishef-
fortsatapproachingHusaynandrelayedtheopinionoftheex-
khedive,AbbasHilmi,whohaddiscussedtheissuewithPrufer,the
chiefagentoftheInformationService fortheEastinConstantinople.
Thesharif,theex-khedivetoldPrufer,knewhecouldnotpossibly
trusttheYoungTurks,whichmadereconciliationmoot."Meanwhile,
OppenheiminBerlinaddedafurtherpessimisticvoice: hereminded
theforeignministryofArabhatredfortheTurksstemmingfrom
jemalPasha'spersecutionsinSyria,andoftheproblemofsupplying
foodtothehunger-riddenHijaz,whichtheTurkscouldnotunder-
takeatthemoment.I;
TheGermansappearedevenmorediscouragedabouttheTurkish
attitudewhenPapenreportedthatFaysalhadofferedasecondtime
tonegotiatewiththeTurks.Bernstorff,respondingto theforeign
ministry'sdirectivetopressTalaatPashatomakepeacewiththeAr-
abs,reported,first, anerroneousclaimofthedemiseofSharifHusayn,
andsecond,apowerstrugglebetweenthesultan'spalaceandthe
Porte.HedoubtedthattheTurkswouldobligeFaysal:"TheGrand
ViziersaidthatFaysaldemandstoomuch.Hedemandsaposition
(likeBavariaintheGermanEmpire.'ThatmuchtheTurkishgovern-
mentcannotpromise.':"
GermanpressureontheTurkstoreachasettlementwiththeAr-
absbegantopeakattheendofAugust.Papenandotherofficersof