The Sublime Porte was troubled by Abdullah Pasha and Emir Bashir's actions against Damascus, and dispatched Mustafa Pasha, the governor of Aleppo Eyalet, to reinforce Dervish Pasha and help him defeat Abdullah Pasha. Mustafa Pasha sent an emissary to Mount Lebanon to announce an imperial decree dismissing Bashir from the Mount Lebanon tax farms, and reappointing Hasan and Salman. Afterward, Mustafa Pasha, Dervish Pasha and the leaders of the Yazbaki Druze persuaded Sheikh Bashir to defect from Emir Bashir in return for replacing Hasan and Salman with Abbas As'ad Shihab, which officially occurred on 22 July 1821. The governors' forces, backed by the Druze, proceeded to besiege Abdullah Pasha's Acre headquarters, and Emir Bashir left Mount Lebanon for Egypt by sea on 6 August, having lost the backing of his most crucial ally, Sheikh Bashir. However, Emir Bashir gained a new, powerful ally in Egypt's virtually autonomous governor, Muhammad Ali. At the same time, Abdullah Pasha also requested support from Muhammad Ali, who saw in Emir Bashir and Abdullah Pasha the key to bringing Ottoman Syria under his hegemony. Muhammad Ali persuaded the Sublime Porte to issue pardons for Bashir and Abdullah Pasha, and to lift the siege on Acre in March 1822.