SLA suspect arrested in South Africa

According to the FBI's "Most Wanted" website (http://www.fbi.gov/mostwant/fugitive/sept2002/septkilgore.htm): "James William Kilgore is wanted for his involvement in extremist activities in the 1970's. Kilgore was allegedly associated with the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA), the group responsible for the abduction of Patricia Hearst on February 4, 1974, in Berkeley, California, and the takeover robbery of the Hibernia Bank in San Francisco, California, on April 15, 1974. "On September 21, 1975, an unregistered pipe bomb was found at Kilgore's residence in San Francisco, California. As a result, Kilgore was subsequently charged with the unlawful possession of an unregistered bomb device in a one count indictment in the Northern District of California on August 25, 1976.

"On January 15, 2002, James Kilgore was charged with one count of murder by the State of California in the Sacramento Superior Court, Sacramento, California. This charge stemmed from the April 21, 1975, robbery of the Crocker National Bank in Carmichael, California. During this robbery, allegedly committed by members of the SLA, a female bank customer was shot and killed."

The FBI offered "a reward of up to $20,000 for information leading directly to the arrest of James William Kilgore".

Pape is the third international leftist arrested in South Africa over the past three months and threatened with deportation: Chilean communist anti-fascist guerrilla turned academic Professor Jaime Yovanovic on August 8; and Landless People's Movement activist Ann Eveleth (from America) on August 22. This is clearly part of a campaign by the ANC-IFP-NNP centre-right government to demonise internationals working alongside the emergent social movements and by doing so to demoralise the movements.

If that claim sounds far-fetched, allow us to quote the recent ANC Political Education Unit's dishonest and xenophobic attack on our movements: "The charge of neo-liberalism constitute the most consistent platform presented by the "left" opposition in its fight against the ANC and our government. This South frican "left" has also sought to mobilise other groups, globally, to join in the campaign against the ANC and our government.

"Interestingly, a significant number of the leaders of this anti-ANC offensive in our country are foreigners. This signifies thimportance of this offensive to some international circles. These have determined that the defeat of our government is of strategic importance."

Clinging to the apron strings of George W Bush's terrorist and genocidal "War on Terrorism" the ANC is proving itself in fact the slavish handmaiden of reactionary foreign interests, whether the openly fascist Chilean military or the closet fascist FBI in their war against anyone who resists their corporativist state/capital interests. The New South Africa, as shown by its military invasion of Lesotho in 1998 to protect our sub-imperialist interests and crush anti-corruption popular democratic forces, is performing the same "regional policeman" role on behalf of the US as it did during the heyday of apartheid.

We at the Anarchist Black Hammer have known John Pape for many years while he worked at Ilrig, peforming invaluable services for the beleagured SA labour movement. In fact the African Labour History series carried by Zabalaza Books was kindly donated by John.

For the ANC government, a former liberation movement whose militants were forced into exile for activities that their enemies characterised at the time as "terrorist" and "criminal", to surrender people like John, Jaime and Ann to the genuinely terrorist forces of international reaction is a bitter disappointment.

We have immediately rallied a defence of John against his threatened deportation and call on all workers, peasants, poors and leftist militants to support him.

THE NATION ON PROBATION SAYS:
"TEAR DOWN THE WALLS!"

- blackdragon for the ABH ad-hoc organising committee

** Ilrig's website is at: http://aidc.org.za/ilrig/

** The Anarchist Black Hammer (Southern Africa) is a new support group for jailed class war prisoners, including revolutionaries, activists, dissidents, workers, peasants and the poor formed today in response to the dirty tricks campaign of the SA authorities. The ABH will draw on almost a century of proud history, starting with the formation of the Anarchist Red Cross in Russian-controlled Poland during the 1905 Russian Revolt. The ARC spread around the world and renamed itself the Anarchist Black Cross in 1919 following the Russian Revolution and ever since has worked for the relief and release of prisoners jailed for their political
activities. We decided to adopt the name, Anarchist Black Hammer, both to remove any possible religious bias that could be inferred by the word "cross" and to symbolise the demolition of all prison walls.

Our aims are to:
1) publicise the plight of class war prisoners;
2) support them in jail to the extent we can;
3) network with other concerned organisations to try and win their release; and
4) demonstrate anarchist mutual aid in action.


http://www.zabalaza.net