[2] The abandonment of his territories in Spain gave Marinid sultan Abu Yaqub a free hand to pursue a war against the Abdalwadids of Tlemcen in 1295.

Marinid forces moved systematically and slowly along the coast, taking Taourirt (1295), Oujda (1296), Taount and Nedroma (1298) before finally arriving at Tlemcen in May 1299.

The death of the Abdalwadid sultan Othman in 1303 prompted the city to contemplate capitulation, but his successor Abu Zayyan I rallied the resistance and ensured it continued to hold out.

With an eye to relieving the siege, Abdalwadid agents persuaded the new Nasrid sultan Muhammad III of Granadato transport a Marinid pretender, a certain Uthman ibn Abi al-Ula, to Ceuta in 1306.

He was succeeded by his son, Abu Thabit Amir as Marinid sultan of Morocco, who opted to abandon the siege of Tlemcen and to confront Uthman in Ceuta.