PARIS - Police arrested a man who pulled a rifle out of a guitar case as French President Jacques Chirac was inspecting troops Sunday during the annual Bastille Day military parade, police and witnesses said. Cries of alarm from the crowd lining the parade route apparently alerted police, and the gunman fired a single shot as he was wrestled to the ground. Agents stood him up, searched him and took him away in a van. (Read photo caption)

The Paris police said in a statement that the man was 25 years old and was a member of "neo-Nazi and hooligan" groups. Chirac crushed far-right candidate Jean-Marie Le Pen in presidential elections in May.

Members of the crowd said the man, who had short, brown hair and looked to be in his 30s, took his gun out of a guitar case as the French president was being driven past, down the Champs-Elysees aboard an open-topped jeep.

Paris police said the gun was a .22-caliber. Officers in civilian clothes put the gun and the brown guitar case in the van that took the man away. It was not known whether Chirac was aware of the gunman.

The military parade, a colorful pageant with troops, armored vehicles and aircraft roaring overhead, continued uninterrupted.

The parade is a highlight of celebrations marking Bastille Day, France's national holiday.

The man was arrested at the top of the Champs-Elysees where it empties into Place Charles de Gaulle, site of the famous Arc of Triumph.

He managed to reach the flag-bedecked Champs-Elysees despite heavy security. Police lined the avenue and mingled with crowds along the route

PHOTO CAPTION

A man who was carrying a rifle is being arrested by a riot police officer during the Bastille Day parade on the Champs Elysees avenue in Paris, France Sunday July 14, 2002, while French President Jacques Chirac reviewed the troops. The rifle was hidden in the guitar case, seen at left.(AP Photo/Jacques Brinon)