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Japan cult planned U.S. gas attacks, member testifies
March 23, 1997
Web posted at: 1:38 p.m. EST (1838 GMT)
TOKYO (CNN) -- A Japanese doomsday sect considered launching attacks with deadly sarin gas inside the United States, according to published testimony from the ongoing trial of its members in Japan.
A former official of the Aum Shinri Kyo sect, Ikuo Hayashi, testified that he was told in June 1994 that the group's leader, Shoko Asahara, wanted to unleash sarin at various places in the United States. Hayashi was told to arrange a shipment of the gas to a U.S. port.
No specific sites for gas attacks were discussed, and Hayashi said the plan was later canceled.
Asahara and other sect leaders are facing murder charges in connection with a 1995 sarin attack on a Tokyo subway that killed 12 people and injured thousands.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Related stories:
- Memoir released on 2-year anniversary of Tokyo poison attack - March 20, 1997
- Japan's subway gas attack trial thrown into confusion - October 18, 1996
- Japan cult leader hears tales of terror - September 5, 1996
- U.S. Senate probes doomsday cult link - October 31, 1995
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