TOKYO (Agencies via Xinhua) _ Japan's Aum Supreme Truth cult is to admit for the first time that its members launched a gas attack on Tokyo's subways that killed 12 people and injured thousands in a March 1995 subway attack, reports said yesterday.

The cult would issue a statement within days to admit its members spread the deadly Nazi-invented Sarin gas, the daily Yomiuri Shimbun said.

The shift came as the government planned to submit new legislation effectively banning the doomsday cult from expanding its membership and facilities, the newspaper said.

It quoted the cult's chief spokesman, Hiroshi Araki, as saying the sect was now forced to admit its members' involvement in the subway attack after cult leader Shoko Asahara suggested in court last week it was planned by his followers.

The Yomiuri and Asahi newspapers said the cult was also considering changing its name.

Since the sect was declared bankrupt by the Tokyo District Court in March 1996, its bankruptcy trustee has asked that the cult drop its name.

Aum lost its legal status as a religious group when Tokyo prosecutors ordered it to break up in October 1995.

The cult escaped being outlawed under the Subversive Activities Prevention Act in January 1997 when a legal panel ruled there was no reason to believe it could still pose a threat to society.

The latest moves were "apparently an attempt to counter the growing chorus of community criticism against the cult whenever cult members try to set up a new residence," the Asahi said.

Aum has boosted its financial base with computer sales and is now regrouping, with some 1,500 followers at more than 30 facilities in Tokyo and other cities, according to the public security investigation agency.

China Daily 1999/09/29