'It's family': Lebanese villagers dread looming UN peacekeeper pullout
From his shop in south Lebanon near the Israeli border, Mark Diab says life in his village will be turned upside down when a decades-long United Nations peacekeeping force pulls out next year. "UNIFIL isn't just business, to us it's family," said Diab, 59, whose sister is among residents of Ibl al-Saqi who have married peacekeepers from the UN Interim Force in Lebanon over the years. She now lives in Spain.