BEIRUT: A man was arrested Thursday in connection with the weekend attacks on four Muslim sheikhs in Beirut, the National News Agency said.

No details were provided about the identity of the man, who joins seven other people detained on suspicion of involvement in two separate attacks on the sheikhs Sunday evening.

Beirut MP Mohammad Qabbani slammed the authorities for describing the assaults against sheikhs Mazen Hariri and Ahmad Ferkhan in the Beirut neighborhood of Khandaq al-Ghamiq as being the work of people “on drugs.”

After visiting Hariri at his home, the Future Movement legislator said “the attempt to depict the crime as the work of people smoking hashish is an insult to our intelligence.”

“The [group] that engaged in incitement to commit the crime is more important than the actual hands that carried it out,” Qabbani said. “We warn against any attempt to turn this crime into a ‘coincidence.’”

Judicial authorities have said the two incidents were unrelated. Hezbollah and Amal have denied any involvement in the incidents, which took place in Shiite-majority areas.