Timeline: Events since al-Hariri’s death
Here is a chronology of events in Lebanon since Rafiq al-Hariri, the former prime minister, was killed.
14 February 2005: Al-Hariri killed by truck bomb in Beirut.
16 February: At least 150,000 Lebanese turn al-Hariri’s funeral into outpouring of anger against Syria.
28 February: Omar Karami, the Lebanese prime minister, resigns amid anti-Syrian protests.
5 March: Bashar al-Assad, Syria’s president, tells Syrian parliament that troops will start phased pullout from Lebanon.
7 March: Al-Assad and Emile Lahoud, the Lebanese president, meet in Damascus and say they respect all UN Security Council resolutions, including one demanding foreign forces quit Lebanon.
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Beirut streets were flooded by a |
8 March: Lebanese flood central Beirut for pro-Syrian rally organised by Hizb Allah. Syrian troops begin redeploying.
10 March: Lahoud reappoints Karami to form government.
14 March: Anti-Syrian protesters stage Lebanon’s biggest demonstration since al-Hariri’s killing.
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.
13 April: Karami resigns again after failing to form cabinet to supervise parliamentary elections.
15 April: Lahoud appoints moderate Syrian ally Najib Miqati as prime minister-designate.
19 April: Miqati forms government.
25 April: Jamil al-Sayyed, a pro-Syrian security chief, resigns.
26 April: Last Syrian soldiers leave Lebanon.
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Former general Michel Aoun had |
7 May: Michel Aoun, a former general and Maronite Christian, returns to a hero’s welcome after 14 years in exile.
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.
2 June: Samir Kassir, a journalist opposed to Syria’s role in Lebanon, is killed by a bomb placed in his car in Beirut.
19 June: Parliamentary elections end after four rounds of voting. Alliance led by al-Hariri wins 72 seats in 128-member assembly. Miqati steps down.
21 June: George Hawi, a former Communist Party leader and critic of Syria, is killed by bomb placed in his car in Beirut.
30 June: Lahoud designates Fuad Siniora, former finance minister nominated by anti-Syrian legislators, as prime minister.
12 July: Car bomb wounds Elias al-Murr, the caretaker defence minister, and kills two people in Christian suburb north of Beirut.
30 August: Four pro-Syrian former security chiefs are detained as suspects in Rafiq al-Hariri’s killing and later charged with murder.
20 September: UN investigators go to Damascus to interview Syrian officials, including Ghazi Kanaan, the interior minister.
25 September: May Chidiac, a Christian television journalist critical of Syria, is seriously wounded by bomb in her car.
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Gebran Tueni is killed by a car |
12 October: Syrian state news agency announces that Kanaan has committed suicide in his office in Damascus.
20 October: UN investigators, in report to UN Security Council, say high-ranking Syrian officials and their Lebanese allies were involved in al-Hariri’s killing.
10 November: Al-Assad launches a scathing attack on Lebanon‘s leaders, accusing them of turning their country into a hotbed of conspiracy against Damascus.
7 December: UN investigators complete questioning five Syrian officials in Vienna in connection with the al-Hariri assassination.
12 December: Gebran Tueni, staunchly anti-Syrian member of parliament and Lebanese newspaper magnate, is killed by a car bomb in Beirut.
19 January 2006: Serge Brammertz, deputy prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, arrives in Beirut to succeed Detlev Mehlis as head of the UN investigation.
12 January: Abdel-Halim Khaddam, the former Syrian vice-president, accuses al-Assad of ordering al-Hariri’s killing.
Syria says UN investigators investigating the al-Hariri killing cannot meet the Syrian president.
11 February: Saad al-Hariri returns to Lebanon more than six months after he left because of security worries.
14 February: About 500,000 gather in central Beirut to mark the first anniversary of al-Hariri’s assassination.