Editing Basil II (section)

===Campaigns against the Fatimid Caliphate===
Once the internal strife was quelled, Basil turned his attention to the Empire's other enemies. The Byzantine civil wars had weakened the Empire's position in the east, and the gains of Nikephoros II and John I had nearly been lost to the [[Fatimid Caliphate]].{{sfn|Cartwright|2017}} In 987–988, a seven-year truce with the Fatimids was signed; it stipulated an [[Arab–Byzantine prisoner exchanges|exchange of prisoners]], the recognition of the Byzantine emperor as protector of Christians under Fatimid rule and of the Fatimid Caliph as protector of Muslims under Byzantine rule, and the replacement of the name of the Abbasid caliph with that of the Fatimid caliph in the [[Friday prayer]] in the mosque at [[Constantinople]].{{sfn|Lev|1995|p=202}} This lasted until the long-time [[vizier]] [[Yaqub ibn Killis]] died in 991. Fatimid caliph [[Al-Aziz Billah]] chose to pursue a more aggressive stance in Syria and appointed [[Manjutakin]] as governor of [[Damascus]].{{sfn|Kennedy|2004|pp=324–325}}