AUM LEADER IN CUSTODY

The Japanese Cabinet held an emergency meeting at dawn as tens of thousands ofchemical warfare and regular troopswent on alert. They were bracing for possible retaliation after policearrested Shoko Asahara, the Japanese cult leader, and 14 of his followers. Asahara was charged Monday with murder inthe Mar. 20 nerve gas attack on Tokyo subways. The bearded, 40-year-old guru was meditating alone in a hidden, steel-fortified room at the Aum Shinri Kyo cult's rural compound beneath Mount Fuji when police broke in last night. He surrendered peacefully, with one proviso: "Don't touch me," investigators said he told police doctors. "I don't even let my followers touch me."