PARIS, July 14 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - A neo-Nazi militant, who was arrested in Paris Sunday, July 14, after firing a rifle near President Jacques Chirac at the traditional Bastille Day parade in what his wife described as an attempted assassination, tried to commit suicide afterwards by turning the gun on himself, a French minister said.

"He fired a first shot, which was deflected, he was then overcome and he tried to turn the gun on himself," said Patrick Devedjian, minister for local liberties.

"It wasn't an incident, it was an attack. A man from the far right, even further right than the National Front, made an attempt on the life of the president," the minister added.

Maxime Brunerie, 25, was standing in the crowd at the Arc de Triomphe when he produced a .22 rifle from a brown guitar-case and fired one shot before being overpowered by police and led away, Agence France-Presse (AFP) said.

Chirac, 69, had passed by moments before in an open-top vehicle at the start of the military march-past. It was not clear if the president was aware of the incident nor if he had been in serious danger.

Police said Brunerie, a student and part-time chauffeur from the southern Paris suburb of Evry, was "known to belong to neo-Nazi and hooligan movements." Officials said he was a member of the far-right student group GUD and had links to skinhead groups.

"I was watching the parade. Mr Chirac was going by in his car when I felt the crowd moving to my right. Then I saw, two or three meters away, a man aiming in the direction of the president," said Mohamed Chelali, 50, a Canadian tourist.

"Someone hit the gunman's hand and I grabbed a part of the weapon, and some metal bit of it fell off. A third person kept it pointed upwards," Chelali said after being interviewed by police.

Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy said Brunerie was a "militant of the extreme-right... known for his violence and with a police record."

Asked whether there had been an attempt on her husband's life, Chirac's wife Bernadette said, "Yes, it's clear."

The right-wing Chirac was re-elected head of state in May 2002, and with his supporters now controlling parliament, he is one of the most Europe's most powerful politicians.

After the incident, the parade down the Champs Elysees continued unaffected, with Franco-American relations occupying the central theme of the commemoration.

A squad of 170 cadets from the U.S. military academy West Point took the lead, and a fire-engine from the New York Fire Department drew warm applause.

A detachment of New York fire-fighters, as well as relatives of some who died on September 11, were among the guests of honor at the garden-party.

The July 14 celebrations mark the fall of the Bastille prison in Paris at the start of the French revolution in 1789.

Altogether some 4,000 soldiers took part as well as 90 aircraft, including some that flew recently in operations over Afghanistan.

The parade took place at a time of heightened concern about the level of military spending in France, with Defense Minister Michelle Alliot-Marie warning Sunday that half of the country's tanks and helicopters are currently out of service because of a lack of spare parts.

Chirac has promised to devote new resources to the armed forces, whose budget has fallen to 1.8 percent of Gross Domestic Product compared to 2.5 percent in Britain and 3.5 percent in the US. An extra 908 million euros (899 million dollars) was made available last week by the new center-right government.

One of the most important decisions to be taken is whether to built a second nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to complement France's new vessel the Charles-de-Gaulle.