Frank Gardner
Security correspondent

As more details emerge about this attack and the suspect accused of carrying it out, unexpected angles emerge.

A source close to the Saudi government tells me that it sent four official notices known as “notes verbales” to German authorities, warning them of what it said was “the very extreme opinions” defended by Taleb al-Abdulmohsen.

The source, who asked to remain anonymous, said those notifications contained details about him. Three were sent to German intelligence and one to the Foreign Ministry, but all, the source said, were ignored.

German media have reported on the suspect’s campaigns against his country’s official religion, Islam, and his fury at the policies of his adopted country, Germany, which lets in so many of Muslim refugees from the Middle East.

He also allegedly tried to help young Saudi women and government critics escape Saudi Arabia and seek asylum in Germany.

In the past, there have been reported cases where Saudi government agents monitored Saudi dissidents living in Germany and Canada and attempted to forcibly return them to Saudi Arabia.