The remnant of the Syrian expedition, some ten thousand men under Balj ibn Bishr, had remain trapped in Ceuta through much of the winter of 741-42, besieged by the Berber rebels.

The Andalusian ruler Abd al-Malik ibn Qatan al-Fihri, wary that the presence of the Syrians in Spain will only aggravate matters, refuses them passage across the water.

Indeed, he forbids any relief of the stranded Syrians, going so far as to publicly torture to death an Andalusian merchant who had dared to dispatch a couple of grain boats to Ceuta to feed the desperate Syrians.

But news soon reaches the Andalusian governor that the Berber rebel armies from Galicia had been organized and are now barreling south in three columns, towards Toledo, Córdoba and Algeciras.

Not having enough Arab forces at hand, the Andalusian governor Abd al-Malik realizes he has little choice but to make use of the stranded Syrian force to defeat the Berber armies.

In a carefully negotiated treaty, Abd al-Malik grants the Syrians permission to cross over, on the condition that they promise to return to North Africa within a year of the settlement of the Berber matter in Spain.

Hostages are taken to secure Syrian compliance.