Louvre attacker identified as Egyptian national
Man who launched a machete attack on soldiers outside the Louvre on Friday identified as 29-year-old Egyptian national Abdullah Reda al-Hamany
Mobile phone footage taken by a tourist shows a soldier opening fire at the man outside the Louvre Museum
A man who attacked soldiers with a machete near the Louvre museum in Paris on Friday has been identified as Egyptian national Abdullah Reda al-Hamany.
Prosecutor Francois Molins said the 29-year-old is believed to have travelled to Paris from Dubai on a tourist visa last month. Police are still trying to establish if he acted alone or under instructions.
Egyptian security sources also say they have identified the man, Reuters news agency reported. He was believed to have been staying in the capital's 8th district which was searched in a police raid earlier on Friday. There, he purchased two machetes from a shop selling guns.
The prosecutor said that the attacker, armed with the machetes, approached four soldiers guarding the entrance to crowded shops beneath the Louvre just before 10am local time.
When the soldiers challenged him, he attacked two of them while shouting in Arabic "Allahu Akbar" ("God is greatest"). One of them shot him at least three times, hitting him in the stomach.
“The attacker fell to the ground, seriously wounded. He has been taken to hospital and is fighting for his life," Molins said.
French President Francois Hollande praised the soldiers' actions, saying "this operation prevented an attack whose terrorist nature leaves little doubt".
He told reporters at an EU summit in Malta on Friday that he expected the suspect to be questioned "when it is possible to do so".
