A Syrian terror suspect who was arrested in Germany in relation to an 'imminent' bomb attack has committed suicide while in custody in Leipzig according to Associated Press (AP) news agency.

A spokesman for Saxony's state Justice Ministry told AP that Jaber Albakr killed himself sometime on Wednesday evening, and the incident was being investigated.

Albakr allegedly went on the run after officers raided an apartment in Chemnitz at the weekend and found highly volatile explosives and a home-made bomb vest.

Saxony criminal police chief Joerg Michaelis said the suspect approached three Syrians at Lipzeig's main train station and asked if they could accommodate him.

The men recognised Albakr from a police wanted poster.

Two of the men bound and held him up whilst the third person went to a local police station with a photo of the suspect and Albakr was arrested.

Police had been looking for Albakr since the Syrian refugee slipped through their grasp during a raid on his apartment in Chemnitz.

Investigators were trying to determine if explosives found in his apartment were the same ones used in the November 13 attacks in Paris and the March 22 attacks in Brussels.

On Wednesday, Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said that Albakr had undergone a security check last year, but it did not turn up anything suspicious.

"There was a check against security authorities' data in 2015, but without any hits," he said. "It's not clear when he was radicalised."

German authorities have said they believe he had links to the Islamic State group and was thought to be planning to attack a Berlin airport, possibly as soon as this week.