Gardai investigating an international murder plot have said all those arrested in Ireland as part of the probe are legal residents here. There was also believed to be no prior connection between the couple arrested in Ballincollig and five detained in Waterford.

The man and his partner arrested in Ballincollig under Section 50 of the Criminal Justice Act 2007 are believed to be from Algeria and can be held for up to seven days before being charged or released.

They are both in their 40s and are being held in Dungarvan Garda Station. The raid took place at a house in the Coolroe Meadows development in Ballincollig at approximately 7.30am on Tuesday.

Investigation

The arrests are part of an investigation that has been underway since October of last year into what Supt, John Gilligan of the Garda Press Office called "a serious criminal offence of a plot to murder a person living outside the state."

Gardai insist that there was no threat to Irish people and no firearms or explosives were found. "As part of the investigation we are linking with law enforcement agencies in other jurisdictions, and in particular with the FBI in the USA," said Supt Gilligan.

"This investigation has been ongoing for a number of months and the stage we are at, culminating with the search and arrest operation, will go on for a number of days at least and further investigations will continue then. What we are investigating and the grounds for our arrests are conspiracy to commit a serious offence – murder.

"The superintendent (Chris Delaney) has a large team. There are up to 60 officers from the division and from the Special Detective Unit in Harcourt Square, officers from other sections within the National Support Service and officers from Garda HQ, along with search teams and experienced investigators from the division."

Swedish cartoonist

Gardai also declined to comment on speculation that the alleged plot centred on Swedish cartoonist, 63-year-old Lars Vilks, who drew a cartoon depicting the Prophet Mohammed with a dog's body. The image was published in a Swedish newspaper in 2007 prompting outrage among Muslims.

Vilks has received numerous death threats since but is reported as saying: "I don't get too upset about these things. And I regret nothing." The leader of an al-Qaida faction in Iraq had offered a cash reward to anyone who killed Vilks or the editor of the newspaper that published the image, Ulf Johansson.

The bounty was $100,000 or $150,000 if "he were to be slaughtered like a lamb". An American woman known as 'Jihad Jane' has been arrested under suspicion of conspiracy to commit murder overseas as well as a number of other charges.

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