Khalil found a kindred spirit in
President Siaka Stevens who was equally keen to exploit Sierra Leone's gold and diamonds resource for personal gain. In
Sierra Leone's post-colonial era,
Siaka Stevens association with Jamil Sahid Mohamed Khalil would have a dramatic effect on government policy. Both of them would, for a time, count themselves among Africa's wealthiest men. The alliance of Stevens and Khalil was one of convenience. Stevens had access but as a head of state he was prohibited from engaging in commerce. Khalil became a beneficiary of the
kleptocracy established by
President Siaka Stevens. The president granted Khalil's National Trading Company a monopoly to import more than eighty-seven commodities. at the request of Jamil, who had already managed to acquire 12% of the concession. By 1984 Khalil bought the remaining shares from De Beers. That marked the first time De Beers ever lost a monopoly in Africa. Tommy Taylor-Morgan, the Minister of Finance, warned that Sierra Leone was losing in excess of US$160 million of diamond income annually to diamond smuggling. Located atop Juba Hill in Freetown and spanning over 25 acres, the construction of
Kabassa Lodge took two years to complete. It was finished in time for the
1980 O.A.U. Summit.
The Palestine Liberation Organization connections So great was Khalil's influence that he managed to persuade Stevens's handpicked successor, President
Joseph Saidu Momoh, to invite
Yasir Arafat for a state visit, at the behest of his personal friend, King
Hussein of Jordan. The purpose of Arafat's visit was to secure a deal with Momoh to run a Palestinian paramilitary training camp on one of the islands off Sierra Leone's coast. Arafat offered Momoh $8 million but Momoh eventually caved to Western pressure and officially said no. Instead he permitted Khalil to keep a so-called 500 strong "personal security force" which included Palestinian exiles... == Second exile ==