Key events after al-Hariri’s death
Samir Kassir, a prominent anti-Syrian journalist of An-Nahar newspaper was killed in Beirut on Thursday when a bomb destroyed his car, security sources said.
Here is a chronology of the main events in Lebanon since former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri was killed in February.
14 February, 2005 – Al-Hariri is killed by bomb in Beirut.
16 February – At least 150,000 Lebanese turn al-Hariri’s funeral into outpouring of anger against Syria.
28 February – Prime Minister Omar Karami resigns amid anti-Syrian protests.
March
2 March – Opposition demands withdrawal of Syrian troops.
5 March – President Bashar al-Assad tells the Syrian parliament that troops will start phased pullout from Lebanon.
6 March – Hizb Allah chief Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah says his fighters will not disarm as Lebanon needs them to deter Israel.
7 March – Assad and Lebanese President Emile Lahoud, meeting in Damascus, say they respect all Security Council resolutions, including one demanding that foreign forces quit Lebanon.
8 March – Lebanese flood central Beirut for big pro-Syrian rally organised by Hizb Allah. Syrian troops begin redeploying.
10 March – Lahoud reappoints Karami to form government.
In March Nasrallah said |
14 March – Anti-Syrian protesters stage huge demonstration, Lebanon‘s biggest since al-Hariri’s killing.
16 March – Syrian intelligence agents vacate Beirut headquarters.
19 March – Bomb in Christian suburb of Beirut wounds 11 people.
23 March – Bomb kills three people in Christian town of Kaslik, north of Beirut.
April
13 April – Karami resigns again after failing to form cabinet to supervise elections.
15 April – Lahoud appoints moderate Syrian ally Najib Mikati as prime minister-designate.
19 April – Mikati forms new government.
25 April – Pro-Syrian security chief Jamil al-Sayyed resigns.
26 April – Last Syrian soldiers leave Lebanon.
May
4 May – Mikati, on first official visit to Damascus, says Lebanon and Syria want to put relations on right track.
7 May – Michel Aoun, Maronite Christian and staunch foe of Syria, returns to hero’s welcome after 14 years of exile.
Michel Aoun returned to Lebanon |
15 May – Saad al-Hariri, son of assassinated former prime minister, unveils his candidate list for elections.
23 May – UN team verifies withdrawal of Syrian troops.
29 May – Parliamentary elections take place in Beirut in first of staggered regional polls on four successive Sundays.
The candidate list led by al-Hariri wins all 19 seats in Beirut.
June
2 June – Samir Kassir, a prominent ant-Syrian journalist of An-Nahar newspaper, is killed in a car bomb in the Ashrafiyeh neighbourhood of Beirut.