French police hunt ETA suspects after officer killed

The unnamed 52-year-old officer was part of a patrol that was attacked after it halted a speeding car in Dammarie-les-Lys, a suburb east of Paris late Tuesday.

The police came under fire from other vehicles, which were apparently committing several car thefts from a garage.

"We think it was a commando unit of at least six people, maybe 10, including a woman, because six cars were stolen," a French judicial source said.

One man was arrested at the scene and he gave a Spanish identity corresponding to that of a Basque individual close to ETA, according to the same source.

If ETA was responsible for the shooting, it would be the time the group has killed a French law enforcement official. ETA wants independence for traditional Basque lands not only in northern Spain but also in southwestern France.

Authorities in Spain, where the Basque separatist rebels have killed more than 850 people, were quick to blame the group.

"This time France has paid a high price for its collaboration in the fight against ETA, which is so important for our freedom and our security," Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero told a news conference.

"I feel just as strongly about the murder of this policeman as I would have done if he had been a member of our own security forces," he said.

ETA members have often used the open border with France to escape detection in Spain and while they do commit crimes, such as theft of vehicles and weapons, they avoid direct confrontation with French police.