only Talha and Zubayr, Ayoub suggests that the egalitarian policies of Ali also antagonized much of the Quraysh. Alternatively, a report by the Mu'tazilite Ibn Abi'l-Hadid () suggests it was a letter by Mu'awiya that convinced Talha and Zubayr to revolt. The letter also offered them support should the duo seize the control of Kufa and Basra. Preparations Rebels' march on Basra In October 656, led by Aisha, Talha and Zubayr, six to nine hundred Meccan rebels marched on the garrison city of Basra, some 1300 kilometers away from Hejaz, where they were unable to muster much support. The war efforts were funded by the likes of Ya'la ibn Munya, Uthman's governor of Yemen who had brought the public funds with him to Mecca. Rivalling each other for the caliphate, Talha and Zubayr are said to have quarrelled for leading the prayers during the campaign, while Aisha mediated between them. As for her, al-Tabari and some others write that Aisha was disheartened by the incessant howling of dogs at a place called Hawab on the way to Basra, which is said to have reminded her of Muhammad's warning to his wives, "The day will come that the dogs of Hawab will bark at one of you, and that would be the day when she would be in manifest error." She was, however, dissuaded from any change of plans. Rebel occupation of Basra The arrival of the rebels and their propaganda divided the Basrans for and against Ali, though they largely remained loyal to him, perhaps because Ali had earlier replaced Uthman's unpopular governor with the upright Uthman ibn Hunayf from the Ansar. Some apparently opposed Talha and his call for vengeance, having seen his earlier letters that called for Uthman's death. After an inconclusive fight, in which Ali's chief of police Hukaym ibn Jabala and many others were killed, both sides agreed to a truce until the arrival of Ali and the rebel army then camped outside of Basra. The agreement stipulated that governor's residence and the mosque and the treasury should remain under the governor's control, while the rebels were free to reside where they chose. Soon, however, they raided the town on "a cold, dark night with wind and rain," killing many and seizing the control of Basra and its treasury. The governor was tortured and then imprisoned, but later released and expelled from the city. Some (Sunni)