Forty people linked to Al-Qaeda have been arrested over a plot to kill Jedward at the Eurovision song contest.

Security services in host city Azerbaijan also recovered a major arms cache in the operation in which a number of key personnel and property were also targets, including Azeri President Ilham Aliyeve, the £100million Baku Crystal Hal and other major hotels which housed acts and officials connected to the song contest.

Azerbaijan has been targeted in a number of terror plots in recent months and Eurovision bosses confirmed they had spent hours devising a detailed emergency strategy in the event of an attack.

A police statement said: “The armed group set itelf the aim of mounting terror attacks, creating a mood of powerlessness and lawlessness, sowing ethnic and religious enmity and damaging Azerbaijan’s international image.”

Belfast Telegraph