Calls grew Wednesday (October 12th) for Germany to honour and reward three Syrian "heroes" who captured a compatriot suspected of plotting to bomb a Berlin airport , AFP reported.

"The young men deserve the Federal Cross of Merit," Social Democrat defence expert Johannes Kahrs told Bild daily, referring to Germany's highest honour for civilians.

"What they have done is proof of their deep respect for their host country, Germany... It is hard to imagine greater integration (in the country). This is exemplary," he said.

Several politicians also urged the government to swiftly grant the three asylum.

"What the three have done is a courageous and highly recognisable achievement," said the chairman of the parliamentary committee on interior affairs, Ansgar Heveling.

"Their asylum applications should be examined quickly... and surely there must be a way to reward them for their commitment," Heveling told Berliner Zeitung daily.

The three Syrians had unwittingly invited the 22-year-old fugitive Jaber Albakr, who investigators believe is linked to the "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant" (ISIL), to stay at their apartment in the eastern city of Leipzig.

They later realised Albakr was being sought by police, who on Saturday raided his apartment and found 1.5 kilogrammes of a homemade explosive.

After seeing police's appeals for information in Arabic on Facebook, the Syrians quickly overpowered the fugitive, tied him up, and called in police officers to take him away.