Former Aum Shinrikyo executive Fumihiro Joyu, who later founded Hikari no Wa (The Circle of Rainbow Light) which is one of the splinter groups, offered his apologies once again Friday to people affected by the doomsday cult but said he is no longer part of the original group.

“As I also bear a heavy responsibility, I would like to apologize to the victims,” he told a news conference, although adding, “I have left Aleph more than 10 years ago, and I don’t have any special feelings (for Asahara).”

Joyu said he first learned about the executions of Aum founder Shoko Asahara and six other condemned cult members during a telephone call Friday morning from an acquaintance.

Aum evolved from a yoga school established by Asahara in 1984 and had about 1,400 live-in followers and over 10,000 lay followers at one point. It renamed itself Aleph in 2000 and two splinter groups have since been formed. One of them is Joyu’s Hikari no Wa.

The Public Security Intelligence Agency continued to monitor the groups, believing they were still under the influence of Asahara. The followers of the three groups total about 1,650 in Japan and about 460 in Russia, while the groups hold more than ¥1 billion ($9 million) in assets, according to the agency.

Source: ANNnewsCH