Nur al-Din
In Syria, Shawar easily convinced Nur al-Din to support his cause in Egypt. Nur al-Din was motivated partially by his long standing desire to gain control over Egypt and partially by a desire to block further military adventures by Amalric. Nur al-din sent the head of his army Shirkuh (who in turn took his nephew, Saladin, with him) to accompany Shawar back to Egypt and return him to power. The force set out in May 1163 and quickly entered Cairo where they deposed Dirgham. Once Dirgham had been overthrown, however, it quickly became clear that Shawar was not going to uphold his agreement, neither paying tribute to Nur al-Din nor giving Shirkuh's troops the fiefs he had promised. Shawar then entered into negotiations with Amalric in an attempt to garner support against his former benefactor. He ultimately enticed Amalric into an alliance against Nur al-Din by making several concessions including the release of Christian prisoners and submitting to the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Together Amalric and Shawar marched on the city Bilbays, which Shirkuh was using as his base. Neither of the allies wanted to storm the city so they chose to put it under siege (the native Egyptians understood the flood cycles of the Nile and thus knew they would not suffer the same fate as Amalric's previous siege of the city). Nur al-Din took advantage of the absence of Amalric and Jerusalem's army to attack the Crusader States, winning a pitched battle and retaking the city of Harim. Nur al-Din continued his advance and took the city of Baniyas, forcing Amalric to return from Egypt. A peace deal was brokered in November 1163 which required both Amalric and Shirkuh to withdraw from Egypt in exchange for large payments from Shawar. Shawar emerged as the ultimate victor having both gained personal control of Egypt and having avoided submission to either Nur al-Din or Amalric.