The Japanese doomsday cult which carried out a deadly nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway is reported to be considering apologising for its crimes and changing its name.

According to Japanese security authorities, Aum Shinrikyo, or Supreme Truth, appears ready to acknowledge for the first time that it was behind the attack which killed 12 people and injured 5,000.

Since 1995, when sarin nerve gas was released on Tokyo's subway trains, the Aum cult has refused to admit responsibility.

The attack killed 12 and injured thousands

Some of the cult's leaders have already been convicted for their part in the gas attack, but present members have so far avoided apologising.

Their spokesman has consistently said that the cult is still trying to understand what happened.

In the last few years, the cult has recruited new followers and raised millions of dollars through computer sales; as a result, public hostility towards the group has been increasing.

Wherever Aum members move in, local residents mount protests and try to get them evicted.

Public pressure

Now, security officials in Japan say Aum may be planning an apology and is also considering changing its name.

Both would be an abrupt change of position.

After the gas attack, Aum escaped being banned on the grounds that it no longer posed a danger to society.

But its opponents say that while it refuses to take responsibility for past acts, it cannot be trusted in the present.

In response to public pressure, the Japanese Government is planning new legislation which would outlaw the group.

The apology and name change may be aimed at avoiding that fate.