BEIRUT, Nov 9, 2009 (AFP) -
A timeline of key events since 2005 in Lebanon, where Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Monday formed a national unity government with his Hezbollah-led rivals.
2005
- Feb 14: Billionaire former premier Rafiq Hariri killed in a massive bomb blast in Beirut. The murder is followed by a series of high-profile assassinations over the next three years. Pro-Western leaders blame neighbouring Syria, which had troops in Lebanon since the 1975-1990 civil war.
- April 26: Syria, which denies any role in the Hariri killing, pulls its last troops out of Lebanon after 29 years.
- June-July: A parliamentary election gives a majority to anti-Syrian parties. Prime Minister Fuad Siniora forms a cabinet including Hezbollah, a Shiite Muslim group with a powerful militia.
- Oct 20: An initial UN probe implicates Syrian agents in the Hariri killing.
2006
- July 12-Aug 14: Hezbollah guerrillas capture two Israeli soldiers in deadly border clashes, triggering a 34-day war in Lebanon which ends with a UN-brokered ceasefire. The conflict is considered a failure for Israel. Nearly 1,200 Lebanese are killed, most of them civilians. About 160 Israelis, mostly troops, are killed.
After the war Hezbollah forces refuse to surrender their weapons, but the Lebanese army deploys up to the border with Israel. The United Nations sends a strengthened peacekeeping force to south Lebanon.
- Nov 11: Failure of consultations on a government of national unity. Shiite ministers resign.
2007
- May 20: Clashes break out between the army and an Islamist group in a Palestinian refugee camp. More than 400 people are killed in 15 weeks.
- June 10: Creation of the UN special tribunal for Lebanon.
- Nov 23: The mandate of President Emile Lahoud expires amid deadlock
over his successor, who under the Lebanese system is elected by parliament and is traditionally a Christian.
2008
- May 7-14: A government bid to curb Hezbollah's power leads to a week of sectarian clashes, killing more than 100 people as militants of the opposition led by Hezbollah seize large swathes of Sunni areas of Beirut.
- May 21-25: Qatari-brokered talks between rival factions lead to a power-sharing deal, including an end to the deadlock over the presidency. Army chief Michel Sleiman is elected president four days later.
- July 11: Siniora forms a government of national unity in which Hezbollah and its allies have veto power over key decisions.
- Oct 15: Syria and Lebanon formally establish diplomatic ties.
2009
- April 29: The UN tribunal orders the liberation of four Lebanese generals who have been detained since August 2005 over the Hariri assassination.
- June 7: The anti-Syrian parliamentary majority wins legislative elections, taking 71 of the parliament's 128 seats, against 57 for the Hezbollah-led alliance.
- June 27: Saad Hariri, son of Rafiq Hariri, is named Lebanon's new prime minister.
- Nov 9: Hariri forms a national unity government with his Hezbollah-led rivals.
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Received by NewsEdge Insight: 11/09/2009 13:47:10
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