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 Jamil to keep a so-called 500 strong "personal security force" which included Palestinian exiles... Second exile Jamil fled from Sierra Leone during the 1999 invasion of Freetown by the RUF rebels. One of his sons was a victim of the atrocities committed by the rebels and was shot dead, in Jamil's presence, when the rebels attacked his house in Freetown. The son was said to have taken the bullet for his father. His old friend, Lebanese Speaker, Nabih Berri arranged for him to escape to Lebanon on a diplomatic passport. Lebanon's legislature. Jamil died of a stroke in Lebanon. See also Blood Diamonds Joseph Saidu Momoh Revolutionary United Front Siaka Stevens Sierra Leone Antwerp References Further reading Child Soldiers, Adult Interests: The Global Dimensions of the Sierra Leonean Tragedy by J. Peter Pham, Ph.D. Blood from Stones: The Secret Financial Network of Terror by Douglas Farah External links War and Peace in Sierra Leone: Diamonds, Corruption and the Lebanese Connection Sierra Leone: the world's poorest nation by Elizabeth Vidler, Contemporary Review, January 1993 1936 births Sierra Leonean prisoners sentenced to death People from Freetown Sierra Leonean businesspeople Lebanese businesspeople Living people Blood diamonds Politics of Sierra Leone Sierra Leonean people of Lebanese descent