Japanese police officials have arrived in Moscow to discuss security issues with their Russian counterparts, amid growing fears that the Japanese cult Aum Shinrikyo could launch terrorist attacks in Moscow.


Investigations into the cult's activities have shown a strong connection between the group's Russian and Japanese branches.


The cult, which on different occasions has claimed to have between 8,000 and 30,000 members in Russia, has been closely linked to the March 20 poison gas attack on the Tokyo metro.


The attack killed 11 people and made thousands of others ill.


Independent television reported Monday that Japanese police had found firm evidence that the gas used in the attack, sarin, had been manufactured in Aum Shinrikyo laboratories.


Earlier, police found chemicals used to make sarin on the cult's premises.


According to Vitaly Savitsky, deputy head of the Duma Committee on Public Associations and Religious Organizations, the poisonous substances used to make sarin had been exported from Russia to Japan.


It was not possible however to determine whether these were the chemicals used in the attack in Tokyo.


A Russian- or Soviet-made helicopter and nerve gas detector were also found on the sect's premises in Japan.


Yoshitaka Akimoto, the press attach? at the Japanese Embassy in Moscow, said the visit by the police officials was not aimed specifically at dealing with problems surrounding the cult.


"They came to Moscow not to investigate Aum Shinrikyo nor to discuss the sect but to exchange views on security systems in Japan and Russia," Akimoto said.


"Of course it is quite natural to pick up the Aum Shinrikyo issue as well," he added.