Police in Israel have arrested a man in connection with the leaking of Madonna's new album, 'Rebel Heart'.

Several songs from the album were leaked in December, leading the the singer to make controversial statements about 'artistic rape' and 'terrorism'. She later rush-released six tracks on iTunes.

The cyber crime unit of Israeli crime investigation organisation Lahav 433 said that a 39-year-old man had been arrested and  "broke into the personal computers of several international artists over the past few months and stole promotional final-cut singles which have yet to be released and traded them online for a fee".

The suspect's name has not been released, but rumours abound that he is a one-time contestant on an Israeli TV singing competition similar to The X Factor.

The full Madonna album will be out in early March and features a collaboration with boxer Mike Tyson.