TOKYO, Jan. 29 (Kyodo) - Fumihiro Joyu, a senior member of the AUM Shinrikyo cult, said Tuesday he will formally take over the leadership of the group Wednesday.
Joyu, a longtime spokesman for the cult, said at a press conference at the cult's facility in Tokyo's Setagaya Ward, ''I have effectively led the organization until now and I adapted to the reality.''
Joyu, 39, will replace current leader Tatsuko Muraoka, 51, who will then become chairwoman, a newly established position, he said, adding, ''Muraoka wants to concentrate on her religious training.''
Referring to Shoko Asahara, the founder and a former leader of the cult, Joyu said,'' I still respect him as a meditator, but I want him to show remorse over a series of action.''
AUM, which now calls itself Aleph, is responsible for the 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system and many other crimes. Asahara, 46, whose real name is Chizuo Matsumoto, was indicted as the mastermind of various crimes, including the sarin gas attack.
With Joyu assuming the cult's leadership, public security authorities have stepped-up surveillance of AUM, believing it will launch various campaigns to evade being monitored as a potentially dangerous organization, a category which allows the authorities under a law to continue surveillance for up to three years.
Under the law enacted in December 1999, AUM was placed under surveillance from Jan. 31, 2000. The decision will be reviewed in January 2003.
Joyu has been serving as the cult's de-facto leader since completing a three-year jail term in December 1999 for perjury and falsification of documents relating to AUM's purchase of land in Kumamoto Prefecture, southwestern Japan.