PARIS (Reuters) - A man who attacked soldiers with machetes at the Louvre museum in Paris was placed under formal investigation on Friday, a judicial source said.

Egyptian Abdullah Reda El Hamahmy, 29, was shot and seriously wounded when he launched himself at a group of soldiers on Feb. 3, crying out "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest) in what French President Francois Hollande described as a terrorist attack.

He has told police that he identified with the beliefs of Islamic State but he had not carried out the attack on orders from the militant group, a judicial source told Reuters earlier on Wednesday.

"The accused was put under formal investigation for alleged attempted murder of public servicemen...in connection with a terrorist venture and criminal terrorist conspiracy...with a view to prepare crime," the judicial source said on Friday.

The source added that Hamahmy was still in hospital.

(Reporting by Chine Labbe; Writing by Maya Nikolaeva; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)