Sheikhdom of Kuwait (provincial sub-governors) of the Ottoman government. The independence of Kuwait was also highlighted by the statement made by Sheikh Mubarak Al-Sabah to the German team who requested an audience with him over the extension of the Berlin-Baghdad railway to Kuwait in which Mubarak said that he would not sell or rent any piece of his land to a foreigner, and that he did not acknowledge the authority of the Ottomans over Kuwait. The convention ruled that Shaikh Mubarak had independent authority over an area extending out to a radius of 80 km, from the capital. This region was marked by
History of the Arabs autonomy within a unified Ottoman state rather than Arab independence from the empire. Al-Fatat hosted the Arab Congress of 1913 in Paris, the purpose of which was to discuss desired reforms with other dissenting individuals from the Arab world. However, as the Ottoman authorities cracked down on the organization's activities and members, al-Fatat went underground and demanded the complete independence and unity of the Arab provinces. After World War I, when the Ottoman Empire was overthrown by the British Empire, former Ottoman colonies were divided up between the British and French as League of Nations mandates. Arabs in modern times