 After negotiations between the Ifriqiyans and the rival Sicilian parties failed, Abu'l-Abbas Abdallah marched on Palermo, which he captured on 18 September 900.A great number of the rebels fled the city to the Byzantines in Taormina, with some reaching even Constantinople itself.The Byzantines tried to take advantage of the revolt, and began assembling forces at Messina and Reggio, while a fleet was dispatched from Constantinople.