THE suspected leader of the armed Basque group, ETA, was probably planning a kidnapping before he was arrested at the weekend, police said.

The suspected leader of the armed Basque group Eta was probably planning a kidnapping before he was arrested at the weekend, police said today.

THE leader of the armed Basque group ETA was arrested in France yesterday, officials said, in another setback for the separatists, who have seen five of their commanders taken into custody in the last two years.