Jezzar Pasha
By 1772, Zahir and his allies were firmly in control of Sidon. In order to prevent further encroachments in Lebanon by Zahir, Emir Yusuf requested the assistance of Jezzar Pasha, an Ottoman officer. Emir Yusuf turned down a bribe of 200,000 Spanish reales from Abu al-Dahab to betray Jezzar and execute him. Jezzar Pasha soon consolidated his own rule in Beirut and ignored agreements he had made with Emir Yusuf regarding the latter's authority in the city. Emir Yusuf and his Druze soldiers subsequently tried to dislodge Jezzar Pasha, but were unable to. Thus, Emir Yusuf requested help from his erstwhile enemy, Zahir al-Umar, via his uncle Mansur who he had previously struggled against and replaced. Zahir accepted the request and had his Russian allies bombard Beirut by sea on Yusuf's behalf until Jezzar surrendered and fled. Zahir's backing became handy once again when Emir Yusuf's authority over the Beqaa Valley was challenged by the governor of Damascus in 1773. Emir Yusuf's brother, Sayyid Ahmad, who had been the governor of Beqaa at the time, had robbed traveling merchants from Damascus in the Beqaa village of Qabb Ilyas. Emir Yusuf removed him from the Beqaa and was appointed in his place.