The man, identified only as 21-year-old Florian L., was among a group of people illegally employed by a sub-contractor at the new Willy Brandt Airport site, news magazine Stern reported on Tuesday.
Florian L. converted to Islam a few years ago, and is rated by the Berlin state criminal police (LKA) as likely to commit political crimes of “significance.”
A police report seen by the magazine said he had recently been in close contact with two men who had come to their attention for planning bomb attacks.
The LKA in Brandenburg has suggested there is reason for concern that Florian L. could be “involved in preparation of an attack with explosives,” the magazine said.
But whether he was planning an attack on the airport is unclear. “An evaluation whether his illegal work was just to earn money or was in connection with the preparation of terrorist crimes” could “not be completed on the basis of the currently available information,” the Brandenburg LKA report concluded.
The illegal workers – including Florian L. – were discovered in a check by customs officials. Two of them told Stern they had been working as entry controllers at the airport area, and had access to the airport building site. They were reportedly being employed by City Control, a sub-contractor of Securitas.
Securitas told the magazine that City Control had – in breach of their agreement – hired five workers from another sub-contractor Ibragim Security and that this group had included Florian L.
A statement from the airport corporation said the visit by customs and Brandenburg LKA officials to check for illegal workers had not taken place on the construction site itself, but in the area around the site's offices.
This had been part of the secure building site area but was now open, which was why Securitas had been tasked with guarding it. Securitas was not in charge of entry checks to the construction site, the statement said.
It added that the airport was not yet considered a security zone but that a screening would be undertaken after construction was completed to create such a zone.
The airport has been the target of hefty criticism since it became clear that the June opening date would be missed by a mile and that costs were going way over budget.
The Local/hc
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