AUM followers number 1,151, up 11 from August

Kyodo News Service/November 15, 2000

Tokyo - The AUM Shinrikyo religious group currently has 1,151 members, up 11 from three months ago, according to a report the cult submitted Wednesday to the Public Security Investigation Agency.

The number of followers living in AUM facilities across Japan is 554, up five, while the number of outside members is 597, up six, according to the report.

The group, which now calls itself Aleph, has 10 facilities in Japan, down 1 from August, according to the report.

The report is the fourth of its kind. Under a law enacted last December to crack down on the group, AUM is required to file a report every three months detailing the number of its followers, their names and addresses, the group's properties and other information.

AUM founder Shoko Asahara, whose real name is Chizuo Matsumoto, is still on trial in a number of criminal cases, including the 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system, which killed 12 people and injured thousands.