A suspected member of Basque separatist group ETA was arrested in France on Saturday, sources close to the investigation said, according to Reuters. The 29-year-old man had turned up at a farm near Pau, in southwestern France, with a bullet wound to his hand. Emergency services treated him before he was taken to a nearby hospital under high security, the sources said. The man, from Pamplona, was carrying a handgun and a magazine of ammunition, according to one source. A police source said he had a magazine but no gun, adding that he was believed to have shot himself. Police set up road blocks in the region, supported by a helicopter, but the operation was abandoned after a few hours. No one else was arrested. Anti-terrorist police have taken charge of the investigation. ETA, whose complete name Euskadi ta Askatasuna means Basque Homeland and Freedom, was founded 50 years ago during the dictatorship of Francisco Franco and has killed more than 800 people. Security forces believe it has been substantially weakened by hundreds of arrests in recent years in France and Spain but that it is still capable of fighting.
