[3] In order to pacify the city and signal good will to its inhabitants, after its surrender in June 913, the Kutama were replaced as garrison by men of the Arab ‹See RfD› jund under Khalil.
[5] The Fatimid caliph, al-Qa'im bi-Amr Allah, selected Khalil ibn Ishaq al-Tamimi to lead the reinforcements.
The siege dragged on as the inhabitants of the city defended it vigorously, with almost daily sorties, and the onset of winter forced Khalil to withdraw to Palermo in October.
[8] The successful defence of Agrigento fanned the flames of rebellion in the rest of the island: Mazara and other cities rose in revolt as well.
Unable to man the city walls with this small a force, he withdrew to the governor's palace next to the Great Mosque of Kairouan.
[11] His efforts to contact Maysur failed because the messenger pigeons refused to take flight, and as Abu Yazid's troops entered Kairouan on 14 October, Khalil began to negotiate a writ of safety (‹See RfD› aman) with the rebels.
Most of his men used a rope to escape from the back of the palace, but Khalil, the city's chief ‹See RfD› qadi, the army treasurer and thirty others were taken prisoner and led to Abu Yazid in Raqqada.
The rebel leader initially intended to spare Khalil's life, but his teacher, Abu Ammar, pointed out that dangerous foes should be killed.