HAMBURG, Aug 2: Federal intelligence authorities have recently placed the Saudi embassy, consulates and other facilities in Germany under surveillance, according to a published report.

The report in Der Spiegel news magazine, due to hit newsstands on Monday, quotes intelligence sources as saying the action was taken in the wake of the White House report on the Sept 11 terrorist attacks and implications of ‘involvement by Saudis’.

The German intelligence investigators are operating on the premise that the kingdom supports terrorist infrastructures of the Al Qaeda network, the magazine reported.

In future, Saudi Arabia will rank along with such countries as Syria as representing a potential spawning ground for terrorism, it was reported.

In particular, the Saudi Ministry of Religion “provides tacit support” of radical Mujahedin elements, a German security official was quoted as saying.

Hitherto, Saudi Arabia was exempt from surveillance owing to its status as a friendly partner.

But one of the reasons for the turnaround involves an “Islamic affairs” attache to the Saudi embassy in Berlin who departed the German capital under a cloud of suspicion.

German intelligence says he had close contacts with a number of purported terrorists. He also allegedly funnelled hundreds of thousands of dollars to a mosque in Berlin known to be a “breeding ground for Islamic radicals”, the report said.

The money is said to have come from a foundation in Riyadh which was mentioned by the White House report in connection with the Sept 11 attacks.—dpa