-
Period: to
Uprising in Hama
-
Muslim Brotherhood uprising in the city of Hama.
The revolt is suppressed by the military, whom rights organisations accuse of killing tens of thousands of civilians. -
Invasion
Israel invades Lebanon and attacks the Syrian army, forcing it to withdraw from several areas. Israel attacks the PLO base in Beirut. -
End Of Hostilities
Lebanon and Israel announce the end of hostilities. Syrian forces remain in Lebanon. -
Heart Attack
Assad suffers a heart attack, according to reports denied by authorities. Assad's brother Rifaat apparently prepares to take power. -
Promotion
Rifaat is promoted to the post of vice-president. -
Period: to
Return to Lebanon
-
Troop Sending
Assad sends troops into Lebanon for a second time to enforce a ceasefire in Beirut. -
Iraq Invasion
Iraq invades Kuwait; Syria joins the US-led coalition against Iraq. This leads to improved relations with Egypt and the US. -
Peace Confrence
Syria participates in the Middle East peace conference in Madrid and holds talks with Israel that founder over the Golan Heights issue. -
DEATH
Assad's son Basil, who was likely to succeed his father, is killed in a car accident. -
You've been sacked man
Assad's brother Rifaat is "relieved of his post" as vice-president. -
Period: to
Rifaat sacked
-
TALKING
December - Talks with Israel over the Golan Heights begin in the US, but are indefinitely postponed the following month. -
DEATH
Assad dies and is succeeded by his second son, Bashar. -
Period: to
Assad succession
-
FREEDOM
the new President Assad orders the release of 600 political prisoners. -
Brotherhood is back
Outlawed Muslim Brotherhood says it will resume political activity, 20 years after its leaders were forced to flee. -
Evacuation
Syrian troops evacuate Beirut, redeploy in other parts of Lebanon, following pressure from Lebanese critics of Syria's presence. -
Historic Visit
Pope John Paul II pays historic visit. -
Crushing Hopes
September - Detention of MPs and other pro-reform activists, crushing hopes of a break with the authoritarian past of Hafez al-Assad. Arrest continue, punctuated by occaisional amnesties, over the following decade. -
Fail
British PM Tony Blair visits to try shore up support for the campaign against terror. He and President Assad fail to agree on a definition of terrorism. -
Period: to
Tensions with US
-
Axis of Evil
Senior US official includes Syria in a list of states that make-up an "axis of evil", first listed by President Bush in January. Undersecretary for State John Bolton says Damascus is acquiring weapons of mass destruction. -
Threat
US threatens sanctions if Damascus fails to take what Washington calls the "right decisions". Syria denies US allegations that it is developing chemical weapons and helping fugitive Iraqis. -
President
President Assad appoints Mohammed Naji al-Otari prime minister. -
Air Strike
Israeli air strike against Palestinian militant camp near Damascus. Syria says action is "military aggression". -
Frosty Relationships
President Assad visits Turkey, the first Syrian leader to do so. The trip marks the end of decades of frosty relations, although ties sour again after the popular uprising in 2011. -
Clashes
At least 25 killed in clashes between members of the Kurdish minority, police and Arabs in the north-east. -
Failure
US imposes economic sanctions on Syria over what it calls its support for terrorism and failure to stop militants entering Iraq -
UN
UN Security Council resolution calls for all foreign forces to leave Lebanon. -
Period: to
Pressure over Lebanon
-
2006 Feb-Sept
February - Danish and Norwegian embassies in Damascus are set on fire during a demonstration against cartoons in a Danish newspaper portraying the Muslim Prophet Muhammad.
September - Attack on the US embassy in Damascus. Four gunmen open fire and throw grenades but fail to detonate a car bomb. Three of them are killed, one is captured. -
2005
February-April- Tensions with the US escalate after the killing of former Lebanese PM Hariri in Beirut. Washington cites Syrian influence in Lebanon. Damascus is urged to withdraw its forces from Lebanon, which it does by April.
October - Interior minister and Syria's former head of intelligence in Lebanon, Ghazi Kanaan, dies in what officials say is suicide. UN inquiry into assassination of former Lebanese PM Rafik Hariri implicates senior Syrian officials. -
2005 Cont
December - Exiled former vice-president Abdul Halim Khaddam alleges that Syrian leaders threatened former Lebanese PM Hariri before his assassination. -
Restore
Iraq and Syria restore diplomatic relations after nearly a quarter century. -
Period: to
Diplomatic overtures
-
Relaunch
European Union relaunches dialogue with Syria. -
President
US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi meets President Assad in Damascus. She is the highest-placed US politician to visit Syria in recent years. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice meets Foreign Minister Walid Muallem the following month in the first contact at this level for two years. -
Jail sentance
Leading dissident Kamal Labwani and prominent political writer Michel Kilo are sentenced to a long jail terms, only weeks after human rights lawyer Anwar al-Bunni is jailed. -
Nuclear Threat
Israel carries out an aerial strike against a site in northern Syria that it said was a nuclear facility under construction. In 2011 the UN's IAEA nuclear watchdog decides to report Syria to the UN Security Council over its alleged covert nuclear programme reactor programme at the site. -
Period: to
Israeli strike
-
Accuses North Korea
The US accuses North Korea of having helped Syria to build a secret nuclear reactor at the site bombed by Israel in 2007. -
Diplomatic Relations
President Assad meets French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris. The visit signals the end of the diplomatic isolation by the West that followed the assassination of former Lebanese PM Rafik Hariri in 2005. While in Paris, President Assad also meets the recently-elected Lebanese president, Michel Suleiman. The two men agree to work towards the establishing of full diplomatic relations between their countries. -
Period: to
International acceptance
-
DEATH
Damascus hosts four-way summit between Syria, France, Turkey and Qatar, in a bid to boost efforts towards Middle East peace. Explosion kills 17 on the outskirts of Damascus, the most deadly attack in Syria in several years. Government blames Islamist militants. -
Relations
Syria establishes diplomatic relations with Lebanon for first time since both countries established independence in 1940s. -
Period: to
Diplomatic thaw continues
-
Nuclear
The UN nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, says traces of undeclared man-made uranium have been found at second site in Syria - a reactor in Damascus. The IAEA was investigating US claims that the site destroyed in the 2007 Israeli raid was a nuclear reactor. -
Bomb atttacks
Iraq and Syria recall their envoys in a deepening rift over charges of responsibility for a string of deadly bomb attacks in Baghdad. They restore ties later in 2010. -
Renew Sanctions
US renews sanctions against Syria, saying that it supports terrorist groups, seeks weapons of mass destruction and has provided Lebanon's Hezbollah with Scud missiles in violation of UN resolutions. -
Protests
Protests in Damascus and the southern city of Deraa demand the release of political prisoners. Security forces shoot a number of people dead in Deraa, triggering days of violent unrest that steadily spread nationwide over the following months. -
Period: to
Nationwide Uprising
-
GOVERNMENT
The government announces some conciliatory measures in an attempt to damp down unrest. . President Assad releases dozens of political prisoners and dismisses the government, and in April lifts the 48-year-old state of emergency. However, he accuses protesters of being Israeli agents. -
Army Tanks
Army tanks enter Deraa, Banyas, Homs and suburbs of Damascus in an effort to crush anti-regime protests. US and European Union tighten sanctions. President Assad announces amnesty for political prisoners. -
Armed Gangs
The government says that 120 members of the security forces have been killed by "armed gangs" in the northwestern town of Jisr al-Shughour. Troops besiege the town and more than 10,000 people flee to Turkey. President Assad pledges to start a "national dialogue" on reform. -
Nuclear Report
The IAEA nuclear watchdog decides to report Syria to the UN Security Council over its alleged covert nuclear programme reactor programme. The structure housing the alleged reactor was destroyed in an Israeli air raid in 2007. -
Russia and China
Newly formed Syrian National Council says it has forged a common front of internal and exiled opposition activists. Russia and China veto UN resolution condemning Syria. -
Fail
Arab League votes to suspend Syria, accusing it of failing to implement an Arab peace plan, and imposes sanctions. Army defectors target a military base near Damascus in the Free Syrian Army's most high-profile attack since protests began. Government supporters attack foreign embassies. -
More Violence
Syria agrees to an Arab League initiative allowing Arab observers into the country. Thousand of protesters gather in Homs to greet them, but the League suspends its mission in January because of worsening violence. -
Suicide Bombs
Twin suicide bombs outside security buildings in Damascus kill 44, the first in a series of large blasts in the the capital that continue into the following summer. Opposition accuses government of staging these and subsequent attacks. -
Crackdown
Russia and China block a UN Security Council draft resolution on Syria, and the government steps up the bombardment of Homs and other cities, recapturing the Homs district of Baba Amr the following month. The UN says that more than 7,500 people have died since the security crackdown began. -
Period: to
UN pressure
-
UN Council
UN Security Council endorses non-binding peace plan drafted by UN envoy Kofi Annan. China and Russia agree to support the plan after an earlier, tougher draft is modified. The UN statement falls short of a formal resolution, and violence continues into the summer. -
Killing
UN Security Council strongly condemns the government's use of heavy weaponry and the militia killing of more than a hundred civilians in Houla, near Homs. France, the UK, Germany, Italy, Spain, Canada and Australia expel senior Syrian diplomats in protest. -
Turkey
Turkey changes rules of engagement after Syria shoots down a Turkish plane that strayed into its territory, declaring that if Syrian troops approach Turkey's borders they will be seen as a military threat. -
Aleppo Seized
Free Syria Army blows up three security chiefs in Damascus and seizes Aleppo in the north. A government offensive to recapture the city makes only limited headway. -
Assad
The government suffers further blows. A UN General Assembly resolution demands that President Assad resign, high-level defections gather pace - most notably Prime Minister Riad Hijab - and US President Obama warns that use of chemical weapons would tilt the US towards intervention.
UN appoints veteran Algerian diplomat Lakhdar Brahimi as new UN-Arab League envoy for Syria after resignation of Kofi Annan. -
Tension Rises
Syria-Turkish tension rises when Syrian mortar fire on a Turkish border town kills five civilians. Turkey returns fire and intercepts a Syrian plane allegedly carrying arms from Russia. Both countries ban each other's planes from their air space.
Fire in Aleppo destroys much of the historic market as fighting and bomb attacks continue in various cities.
UN-brokered ceasefire during the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha breaks down as government continues attacks. -
"Conspiracy"
Several major opposition forces unite as National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces at meeting in Qatar, including the Syrian National Council. Arab League stops short of full recognition. Islamist militias in Aleppo, including the Al-Nusra and Al-Tawhid groups, refuse to join the Coalition, denouncing it as a "conspiracy"
Syrian Arab Red Crescent estimates 2.5 million people have been displaced within Syria, double the previous estimate. UN dubs latest figure "conser -
National Coalition
The US joins Britain, France, Turkey and Gulf states in formally recognising Syria's opposition National Coalition as "the legitimate representative" of the Syrian people. President Obama says the Coalition is now inclusive, reflective and representative enough for this "big step". -
Attacks
Syria accuses Israeli jets of attacking a military research centre near Damascus, but denies reports that lorries carrying weapons bound for Lebanon were hit. Unverified reports say Israel had targeted an Iranian commander charged with moving weapons of mass destruction to Lebanon.
International donors pledge more than $1.5bn (£950m) to help civilians affected by the conflict in Syria. -
Yet more Violence
Syrian warplanes bomb the northern city of Raqqa after rebels seize control. US and Britain pledge non-military aid to rebels, and Britain and France propose lifting European Union arms embargo.Rebel National Coalition elects interim "prime minister", US-educated technocrat Ghassan Hitto. Coalition Chairman Moaz al-Khatib quits, reportedly in partial protest at the move. -
AND IT CONTINUES.....
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