Michael Spondyles had sanctioned the building of a fort at al-Maniqa by Nasr ibn Musharraf, who claimed to be building it for the Byzantines. When Michael was removed from the command of Antioch, Nasr finished the fort, but refused to hand it over. He found numerous excuses, and garrissoned the fort with troops from the Maghreb, with support from Hassan (Pinzarach) and the Fatimid commander al-Dizbiri