TOKYO, June 6 (Kyodo) - The AUM Shinrikyo cult on Wednesday opened to the public three of its facilities, including a training center in Tokyo's Suginami Ward.
The cult said it opened the facilities to provide information on their activities as well as facilities in the hope of reducing anxiety lingering among locals and society.
AUM spokesman Hiroshi Araki emphasized the cult's intention to make the cult ''open,'' saying, ''We hope to make public other facilities in Osaka Prefecture's Suita and in the town of Sanwa in Ibaraki Prefecture within this month.''
However, public security authorities are on guard against the cult, citing the fact that some members continue to display photos of AUM founder Shoko Asahara, 46, in their rooms.
Other than the training center and another facility in Suginami Ward, the cult said it opened another facility in Tokyo's Adachi Ward. A total of 54 followers live in the three facilities.
One of the Suginami facilities was scheduled to open at 9 a.m. However, the opening was delayed by about 30 minutes because dozens of ward office employees and local residents committed to the eviction of the cult members gathered at the facility and called for the cult's early pullout.
Last month, the cult opened to the public its facilities located in apartment buildings in Minami-Karasuyama in Tokyo's Setagaya Ward, which are believed to be the cult's de facto headquarters, to local residents and the media.
Asahara, whose real name is Chizuo Matsumoto, is being tried on a number of charges, including the March 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system which killed 12 people and injured thousands.
AUM now calls itself Aleph.
AP-NY-06-06-01 0220EDT
Copyright 2001 The Kyodo News Service.