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Antioch, Turkey, Aug 19, 2012 / 05:04 pm (CNA).- Patriarch Bechara Boutros Rai of Antioch, the head of the Maronite Catholic Church, has warned that the armed conflict in Syria is affecting neighboring Lebanon and could trigger a major conflict in the country.

“The civil war in Syria between the Sunni majority and the Alawite minority has already begun to have an impact on the Sunnis and Alawites in north Lebanon, in Tripoli and Akkar,” he told Aid to the Church in Need.

The Lebanese are split into “supporters of the Assad regime and supporters of the opposition,” he said. The ongoing political conflict between Lebanon’s anti-Assad Sunnis and the pro-Assad Shiites will “become more pronounced due to the events in Syria.”

In response, he urged Lebanese Christians to become “more united” and meet their responsibilities.

“After all, based on their culture and mental attitude they always strive for peace, progress and the values of modernity. They love peace and fight for justice,” he said. “They are willing to live together and cooperate with Muslims, without prejudices and ulterior motives.”

For 17 months, rebels opposed to the rule of Syrian President Bashar Assad have battled government forces in a conflict that has left thousands dead and hundreds of thousands homeless.

Rebel forces have advanced on the airport of the strategic city Aleppo and have been fighting in Damascus.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said that Qatar, Saudi Arabia and others are helping arm the rebels, the Associated Press reports. The rebel forces include factions of the terrorist group Al Qaida.