US TRIES TO PERSUADE RUSSIA NOT TO SEND MISSILES TO SYRIA.

HISTORY IN THE NEWS:


Syria Lebanon
 






DEDICATED TO THE ORIGINS OF CONTEMPORARY EVENTS AROUND THE WORLD.

TAG: Russia's interest in Syria lies partly in the embattled country's role as a client for Russian high grade arms sales. But perhaps more important, Syria's Mediterranean naval port of Tartarus remains Russia's only warm water port as well as its main maritime foothold in the West.  
 
IN THE NEWS: US SECRETARY OF STATE JOHN KERRY MEETS  RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER SERGE LAVROV IN MOSCOW. KERRY TRIES TO PERSUADE LAVROV THAT RUSSIA'S PLANNED 900 MILLION CONTRACT TO SUPPLY SYRIA WITH 6 S-300 LAUNCHERS WITH 144 LONG RAGE SURFACE TO AIR MISSLES IS NOT IN THE REGIONS INTERESTS AND WILL ONLY INCREASE THE DURATION AND COST OF THE CIVIL WAR.
 
  Below: my piece about Russian interests in Syria and the UN deadock  from April, 2011 still applies; so little has changed.


Russia: Hell No, Assad Won’t Go
.

Hugh Graham April 4, 2011.

           Russia will not back down on Syria, nor can we expect it to. As the Assad regime intensifies its campaign to exterminate the Syrian uprising, Russia is beginning to see some advantage in Kofi Annan’s UN peace plan. But it’s only because the plan is so tepid. Moscow’s backing, however cagey, of the homicidal Assad regime, continues to feel strange, perverse. But of course it isn’t strange at all. Russia has made common cause with Iran in resisting what it sees as continued Western expansion through human rights and other pretexts. So Russia’s defense of Assad, a Shia coreligionist ally of Iran comes as no surprise. Russia also fears popular revolution. But most important, by far, are its geopolitical interests in the Eastern Mediterranean.

          The Syrian port of Tartus is Russia’s only warm water naval port of call beyond the Black Sea. According to the website Rusnavy.com, “Moscow, which is showing its naval flag between Port Said in Egypt and the Strait of Gibraltar more and more frequently, obviously realizes the region's strategic importance.”  Since the new year, there have been reports of the arrival of a Russian destroyer at Tartus and the delivery of arms and even Russian special forces.

           The projection of Russian power into the region beyond its southwest borders goes back centuries and is rooted in its historic rivalry with Turkey, the protection of fellow Slavs in southeastern Europe, and  concern for the holy places claimed by the Russian Orthodox Church in Palestine which, since the fall of Soviet atheism, have regained importance. Since Turkey is still aligned with the West and the West intervened in the Balkans in the 1990s, a Russian presence in the Mediterranean is, more than ever, seen as a bulwark against Western ambitions.

            The Mediterranean island nation of Cyprus, meanwhile, has become Russia’s ally and outpost against the West.  Cyprus shares Russia’s historic enmity with Turkey and remains a stone’s throw from the Syrian port of Tartus. Recently, Turkey and Cyprus have both laid claim to reserves of gas in the undersea Levantine natural gas fields. Russia has an economic interest in the Cypriot initiative which it will back with naval force if Turkey interferes. Turkey, meanwhile, continues to irritate Russia by opposing the Assad regime and accepting Syrian refugees.     

           Russia has been facing down Turkey and pushing south and west since 1700 and Peter the Great. A Russo-Turkish war ended in 1774 with the Treaty of Kuchuk Kainarji by which Russia wrested control of the Black Sea away from Ottoman Turkey and forced the Sultan to recognize Russia’s right to protect Orthodox holy places southward in Ottoman Palestine. Its rivals were France and England who had their own  holy places to protect in the same area.

           Russia, under Vladimir Putin, has reopened requests for access to Orthodox holy places in Israel. One such landmark is an area named ”The Russian Compound” in West Jerusalem. Putin asked for its return. Israel granted the request in 2008 but not without a broad hint that Russia should pull back on selling arms to Iran. And so, Russian Orthodoxy sits near the heart of Russia-Israel relations in this most contested of regions.

         The West watches warily as it did in the 19^th century when Britain and France suspected Russian designs on the Ottoman Empire and the Mediterranean. They fought Russia to a standstill in the Crimean war which ended with Russia being forced to scuttle its Black Sea fleet in 1856.

         Communist Russia’s withdrawal from international prominence after 1917 was only a hiatus. In the mid 1950s, the Baghdad Pact aligned Iraq, Turkey, Iran and Pakistan with the West. This provoked Nasser’s opposing union of Egypt and Syria. Syria, mistrusting Nasser and the West alike, chose the Soviet Union as its defender and arms supplier and Russia’s influence in the former Ottoman province has remained constant ever since. Israel’s victory in the 1967 War resulted in the vast expansion of a southern Soviet fleet to oppose western naval and nuclear advances in the Mediterranean. Moreover, Syria became a valuable client for Soviet arms sales.

            With a Syrian client linked by religion to an Iranian arms customer, a naval port on the doorstep of the West, a nearby ally in Cyprus with possible gas reserves and all of those things ranged against a Western-aligned rival in Turkey, Russia is certainly not likely to relinquish its protection of the Assad regime any time soon.

RELEVANT THEMES

-Russia's  protection of its zone of influence in SW.

-Russia's long history of projecting power beyond its SW European and Black sea borders into the Balkans and the Mediterranean.

 -Russia's renewed interest in Holy Sites in Israel and the Levant.

 RELEVANT DATES.

                              PETER THE GREAT

-Since Peter the great and Russian southward expansion in  the 18^th century, Russia has wanted control of the Black sea and naval access to the Mediterranean.

-For over 200 years, the Mediterranean Sea has played an important part in Russian history. During the Russo-Turkish War of 1768-1774, Admiral Grigory Spiridov (1713-1790) commanded a naval squadron that defeated the Turkish fleet during the battles of Chios Strait and Cesma Bay in July 1770.

                              TREATY OF KURCHUK KAINARJI

1774- treaty of Kuchuk Kainarji- Russia seizes north shore of Black Sea from Ottomans-  gains control of Black sea and right to protect OrthodOx religious sites.

-The subsequent blockade of the Dardanelles Strait facilitated Russia's eventual victory in the war.
-Throughout the early 19th century, the Russian Navy operated in the Mediterranean Sea.

-Ali Pasha: France supports EgypTian Viceroy’s invasion of Syria and Ottomans to increase its own protection of Christians and trade interests

-Russia supports Ottomans against Ali Pasha with aim of Carving up Ottomans.

-England supports Ai Pasha at first- but then supports Ottomans against Russian expansion into the Mediterranean.

                                THE CRIMEAN WAR..

-Russia projecting influence by reducing Ottomans.

-Crimean war: Russia asserts right to protect Orthodox holy places. France and Britain support Ottomans against Russia.

-However, France and the United Kingdom defeated Russia in the 1853-1856 Crimean War.

-Under the 1856 Paris Peace Treaty, Russia was forced to scrap its Black Sea ..

- In the 19th and 20th centuries, Russian expeditions to the Mediterranean Sea tried to undermine British and Turkish naval superiority. In case of war, Russian squadrons were to have attacked British shipping, while avoiding superior enemy forces.

-If a war broke out with Turkey, they were supposed to support the Black Sea Fleet's operations aimed at blockading and seizing the Bosporus and the Dardanelles Straits. Rusnavy

-mid-50s- fear of Iraq and the Baghdad Pact and fear of the alternative, Nasser’s UAR- caused Syria to turn to Soviet union for support.

-1955- Baghdad pact- Iraq, Turkey, Iran and Pakistan in alliance with US and with support from British against Soviet Union. Many Iraqis oppose this alliance with the West. Pan-Arab movement begins to develop.

-mid 1960s- Syria’s fear of Nasser and of Israel caused Baathist gov’t- despite dislike of communists, to turn to Russia for aid- “Russia saw a strategic advantage for itself in the the ports of the Syrian coastine between Lebanon and Turkey; a large naval base there would give it an unprecedented foothold in the eastern Mediterranean, one that would enable its fleet to begin to act as a counterbalance to the considerable United States and NATO military presence in the area.” Thomas Kiernan, THE ARABS.

-a hiatus in 1917.

                                   ISRAEL'S 1967 WAR.

After 1967 war…the Soviet union “greatly expanded its Mediterranean fleet and acquired specvial privIleges for its naval operations in several Arab ports. The buildup of Soviet strength in the area was in reality, not an “intrusion” but a forceful reassertion of centuries-old Russian interests in an area considered vital to Russian security and commerce. As seen from the West, the Soviet buildup threatened the eastern wing of NATO and was evidence if growing militancy.” Don Peretz, THE MIDDLE EAST TODAY.

-International strategies changed with the advent of long-range missiles, nuclear weapons and aircraft carriers. After World War II, Soviet naval squadrons stationed in the Mediterranean Sea were ordered to pin down and destroy NATO carriers and strategic missile submarines in case of a hypothetical conflict, thereby preventing them from hitting targets in the U.S.S.R. Russian Navy.

                                  POST- COLD WAR

-Although tensions have relaxed since the Cold War, and though the United States has scaled down its naval presence in the Mediterranean Sea, this theater of war linking Europe, Asia and Africa retains key importance.

         RUSSIA'S CONTINUING INTERESTS IN THE EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN.

-for Russia: greater access through Black sea and Mediterranean to fellow Slavs in the Balkans. Russia’s rejection of Western humanitarian intervention in Kosovo 
-limit western expansion in the Middle east through military or human rights.--political influence and defense to the Eastern Mediterranean.

-alliance with Cyprus- as a natural enemy of Turkey and outpost against NATO.

"In 2012, Mr Putin upholding the fundamental principles of international law. He believes that western attempts to arbitrarily replace undesirable rulers under the pretext of protecting human rights (as happened in Libya), and to use humanitarian arguments to threaten foreign states (as is happening now in Syria), contradict the principles of international law. Addressing the UN Security Council in March, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov described such actions as “risky recipes of geopolitical engineering”.- RUSSIA BEYOND THE HEADLINES- April 3, 2012

-Russia defense of Syria as a fellow Shia ally of Iran- on Russis’a southern border. Both Russia and Iran want to limit what they see as expansionist tendencies of the West and perhaps especially Turkey. 
-develop Middle eastern clients for the sale of arms

has given post-Soviet Russia its firmest foothold in the Middle East, buying billions of dollars' worth of weapons and.

The Russian officials also defended their country's ongoing arms sales to the Syrian regime, pointing out that there is no international law preventing such sales. (Of course, it was Russia along with China that -vetoed the U.N. Security Council resolution that would have instituted such an arms 

embargo.)       

                                             RUSSIAN FOREIGN POLICY

-to sustain or to protect links to Orthodox holy sites.

- in the Kremlin, and among people close to it, there is keen concern to regain access to, or control of, properties in the Holy Land that were once Russian.

-Nikita Khrushchev returned to the Israelis the greater part of a magnificent West Jerusalem site known as the “Russian compound” for a shipment of oranges.

-it was at Mr Putin’s personal request that a part of the Russian compound, an area called the Sergei courtyard where Jerusalemites enjoy jazz concerts, was returned to Russia a year ago- 

2008- The transfer of the Sergei courtyard was agreed by the Israeli cabinet last year just before a visit to Moscow by Ehud Olmert, the outgoing prime minister. The timing suggested something more was at stake: the Israeli effort to dissuade the Russians from selling missiles to Syria and anti-aircraft systems to Iran. Israel has urged Russia not to fulfil a longstanding contract to supply Iran with S-300 air-defence systems which would make it harder for anyone to bomb Iran’s nuclear facilitie.

TIMELINE FOR THE HISTORY OF LEBANON AND SYRIA:


Ancient Syria

2500 BC- Syria-Lebanon is part of the Akkadian Empire.

1850 BC- the Kingdom of Egypt rules the Lebanese coastal region.

1600 BC- Lebanon-Syria occupied by the Hurrians.

1300 BC- the Amorites. Lebanon is on a trade route stretching fromm Ur in southern Iraq to Assur in norhtern Iraq, to Aleppo in north Syria and down through Lebanon toward Egypt.

-1200 BC- Prompted by the Dorian invasions from the north of Greece and into Anatolia, the Luvians of Anatola occupy Syria-Lebanon.

-1000 -670 BC Phoenician civilization developes along the coast.

670 BC- Lebanon is ruled by the kingdom of Tyre as the Assyrian Empire dominates the region.

560 BC- Lebanon-Syria is ruled by Babylon.

500-334 BC- the region is part of the Persian Empire.

Alexander and the Seleucids

334-323 BC- Alexander the Great of Macedon takes the Lebanese coastal area on his march to Egypt.

323-301 BC- the region is ruled by Alexander's successor, Antigonus.

305 BC-64BC -Syria-Lebanon is rulled by the Macedonian Seleucid kings.

220 BC- the coastal region is ruled by Ptolemaic Egypt.

192 BC- Lebanon-Syria is back under Seleucid rule.

74 BC- the region falls briefly under the rule of Armenia.

Rome and Byzantium

44 BC- the region has been taken by Rome, with Syria to become a Roman province. The Lebanon region was called Phoenice.

AD 325- 644- Syria-Lebanon is part of the Oriens region of the Eastern Roman Empire.

-6th century- Monothelite Christians, persecuted in Antioch, find refuge in Lebanon.

Islam

644- Syria- Lebanon is penetrated by Islam.

-Lebanon is Islamized by migration of Kurds, Turkomans, Persians and Arabs, many of whom had been accused of the Shia heresy in their land of origin.

-Abu Dharral Ghifari, a companion of Mohammed and partisan of Ali, the first Shia Caliph, is exiled to Rubzah in Syria.

-Late 7th century- the Islamic Umayyad Caliphate rules from Damascus.

-Christian Monothelites in the mountains become known as Maronites.

-11th century- Arab Muslim sectarians name themselves Druzes.
-1000 AD (circa) the Shia Alawite sect begins to appear in Syria's northwest coastal province of Latakia.
-11th century- Arab Muslim sectarians name themselves Druzes.

The Crusades.

-11th to 13th centuries- the Crusaders invade Syria.

-1187- Lebanon is held by the Crusaders, while the the Ayubids who oppose them rule from Syria.

Mongols and Mamelukes.

-1258- the Mongols briefly take Damascus.

-1400 (circa) The Syrian military elite, the Mamelukes repel invasion from the east by the Samarkand conqueror, Tamerlane.

THE OTTOMANS

-1517-1566- the region is taken by the Ottoman sultan, Suleiman the Magnificent.

-1536- Francis I of France and the sultan, Suleiman I, sign a treaty of capitulations concerning permanent French trading settlements in the Levant and Turks trading in France; free trade and freedom of religion in one another's countries. Right to be tried in court by one's own consul or nationals. The agreement is renewable upon expiry.

-1585-1635- Fakhr al Din, Druze leader in Lebanon conducts his own foreign policy and invites Christian missionaries.

-1600-1900- Lebanese tribal chiefs encourage French Catholic missionaries to develop education in the country. Rome-educated Maronite priests return to Lebanon and spread western ideas.

1649- Ottoman Sultan issues a decree allowing France's Louis XIV to protect the Maronites. French clergy and French-educated Maronite priests begin to influence political institutions.

-17th-18th centuries- stable feudual structures provide peace between Druzes and Maronites.

France and Russia.

-18th century. The French form close trade relations with Ottoman Syria.

-1736- with Ottoman approval, France becomes protector of the Maronite Christians. The Church of Rome grants the Maronites recognition.

-1740- trade agreements between France and the Ottomans confirmed in perpetuity. The coastal area around Beirut and Tyre becomes the most Europeanized part of the Muslim world.

-1757- contrary to the agreement with the French, the the Ottomans agree to Russia being the protector of Christians in the Levant.

-1774- the Ottomans and Russia reaffirm Russia as the protector of Christians in the Levant.

-prompted by French protection of the Maronites, Lebanon's Ottoman rulers incite the Druzes to move against the Maronites.

-1831- Muhammed Ali, Egyptian viceroy to the Ottomans, deals with rebellions against the Ottomans in Saudi Arabia and in Greece. The Ottoman Sultan, Mahmoud, having promised him Syria and Palestine as a reward, renegs. Ali rebels, takes Syria and from Syria occupies Palestine. He and his son open the area to European influence.

1831-40- Egyptian occupation of Syria and Palestine. Because Ali is a protege of France, France refuses to help the Sultan. Ali wins Cilicia, Palestine and Syria.

-Mohammed Ali invites the French Jesuits to set up in Lebanon where the Jesuits become protectors of the Maronite Christians.

-Ibrahim, son of Mohammed Ali administers Syria for Egypt, centralizing the government and improving the economy. Hailed for resisting the sultan's modernizing reforms, he soon brings in even more radical reforms- facilitating the entry of foreign missions and ruinous competition from foreign imports. Muslims protest his attempt to remove restrictions on Christians and Jews. He even arms Christians in Lebanon and uses them to suppress sectarian Muslim rebellions.

-Britain, meanwhile, allies itself with Druze chieftains in southern Lebanon.

The Civil War of 1840-1861.

-Maronites were considered to be dhimmi, like Jews and Christians- 2^nd class citizens. Prompted by French potection of the Maronites, Lebanon's Ottoman rulers incite the Druzes to move against the Maronites.

-1840- the Maronite-Druze feudal system falls apart. A civil war begins which will last until 1860

-1854- under threat of war, Napoleon III forces the Ottoman Sultan to recognize France as protector of the Christians in the Levant. In this he had British support against the ambitions of Russia in the Middle East.

-The Sultan begins, however, to give in to Russian pressure to restore Russia as the guarantor of Christianity and the Holy Places of the Middle East. In the end, the Sultan sides with Engand and France. In response, Russia occupies neightbouring Ottoman provinces of Wallachia and Moldovia under the prestext of protecting Russian Orthodoxy. The Russian action sparks the Cromean war.

-1860- in Ottoman Lebanon, Druze Muslims massacre Maronite Christians.

End of Civil war. Special Status for the Province of Lebanon.

-1861- France intervenes and forces the Ottoman sultan to appoint a Christian governor for Lebanon. As a result the Maronite Christians are awarded a special enclave.

1864-1914- the Ottoman province of Mount Lebanon retains semi-autonomous status.

World War I. Treaty of Sevres.

1914- post-Ottoman Turkey retains the ‘sanjak’ of Lebanon.
1918 October - Arab troops led by Emir Feisal, and supported by British forces, capture Damascus, ending 400 years of Ottoman rule.

-despite a military administration an Arab National Government wields power in “the Arab Zone” central Syria.

-gov’t is secular and made up of an urbaln elite. All trained in British Egypt or Ottoman administrations.

-district governors are locals.

-lower bureaucracy mostly Syrian Ottoman-trained. 

1919 - Emir Feisal backs Arab self-rule at the Versailles peace conference, following the defeat of Germany and the Ottoman Empire in World War I

Sept.- the British make way for a French mandate in Syria. Feisal, according to a deal with Clemenceau allows for French administration despite popular Syrian demands for sovereignty.

The Arab National Congress.

1920 8 March - The National Congress proclaims Emir Feisal king of Syria "in its natural boundaries" from the Taurus mountains in Turkey to the Sinai desert in Egypt. 

-1920- as part of the Sevres settlement between the allies and the Ottomoan empire at the end of World War I, Syria comes under French mandate.
1920 June - San Remo conference splits up Feisal's newly-created Arab kingdom by placing Syria-Lebanon under a French mandate, and Palestine under British control.

1920 July - French forces occupy Damascus, forcing Feisal to flee abroad.

-National Arab Gov’t realizes that relgious discrimination will be a obstacle to independence and will serve allied powers.

-Christias and Muslims hold high positions. Feisal stresses unity of Christians, Muslims and Jews.

“As it penetrated the masses, however, Syrian or Arab nationalism became Sunni Muslim nationalism and sometimes fanaticism.”

 1920 August - France proclaims a new state of Greater Lebanon.

 -the French exploit sectarian tensions.

-Arab National Government makes huge strides in modernization: education, public health, agricultiure, and the Arabizing of European science and technology.

-Arab national Gov’t hampered by being cut off from the Mediterranean by the new Lebanon. Still dependent on Britain, which reduced its authority.

-ANC forms Syrian National Congress.

-as French intentions become clear, the new Sunni nationalism intensifies.

Lebanon
-the Turkish ‘sanjak’ of Lebanon is enlarged by the French into ‘Greater Lebanon’.

 -the Lebanese Maronite Christian enclave is expanded to form modern Lebanon, governed separately from Syria but still under French mandate. It includes coastal Muslim regions despite Muslim protest.

- Lebanon, on becoming a League of nations Mandate, increases in size, bringing its Muslim population almost to parity with the Maronite Christian establishment.
French Divide and rule.
1922 - Syria is divided into three autonomous regions by the French, with separate areas for the Alawites on the coast and the Druze in the south.

The Communal Constitution.

1925-26- uprising by the Druze Muslims. They are a Shia sect who still revered as an incarnation of God the 11^th century Shia Fatimid Caliph al-Hakim who is said to have been taken up to heaven.

1926- Lebanon’s new Communal Constitution, modeled on that of the French Third Republic, representation in the assembly favours Maronites to Muslims, 6 to 5. This majority was to become permanent despite changes in the population. The President was to be a maronite, the Prime Minister a Sunni and the Speaker a Shia Muslim.

-Lebanon is run by an agreement between Maronite and Orthodox Christians, Druzes, Shia and Sunni Muslims that required self-discipline and rejected radicalism. The Maronites and the Sunnis are the dominant groups but this ruling entente was run by the Higher Muslim Council which represented all the sects.

-the Lebanese inherit the political system of France's fifth republic which allocates parliamentary positions according to relgion: the President has to be a Christian, the prime Minister a Sunni Muslim, the speaker a Muslim; half the parliament must be Muslim.
1928 - Elections held for a constituent assembly, which drafts a constitution for Syria. French High Commissioner rejects the proposals, sparking nationalist protests.

1930-1939- the French put down several rebellions in Syria while trying to establish their mandate and alienate much of the population.
1936 - France agrees to Syrian independence in principle but signs an agreement maintaining French military and economic dominance

1936- Pierre Jumayyil, educated in France, brings the idea of a Fascist militia to Lebanon, which he names the Phalanges Libanaises, founded to oppose Pan Arabism.

World War II.
1940 - World War II: Syria comes under the control of the Axis powers after France falls to German forces. 

1941- Britain and the Free French liberate Lebanon from Vichy France.

1943- the National Pact settles differences between Muslims and Christians.

1943- The French and the British send a joint expedition to Syria to keep it out of Nazi control.
1945 - Protests over the slow pace of French withdrawal.
1946 - Last French troops leave Syria.
 Lebanon and Syria become Independent

1945- Jan 1- Lebanon becomes independent. But the Muslms tend to want to be part of Syria and the Christians regard themselves as part of Europe, having no real connection with the Arab World. They called themselves Phoenicianists, considering themselves a Mediterranean, not an Arab civilization.

1945- after World War II, the influence of the Maronites declines with the withdrawal of the French and the British.

1946- Syria attains independence from France.

The Cold War and Arab Nationalism- Founding of Baath party.

1947 - Michel Aflaq and Salah-al-Din al-Bitar found the Arab Socialist Baath Party. 

-Communist Syria becomes the site of cold-war rivalry between the United States and the Societ Union.

1948- as a member of the Arab League, Lebanon declares war on Israel.
1949 - SYRIA- Army officer Adib al-Shishakhli seizes power in the third military coup in the space of a year.

1949- Lebanon is made to receive 300,000 Palestinian refugees. 100,000 are in 15 major camps, five of which ring the capital, controlling entry and exits from Beirut.
1952 - SYRIA- Al-Shishakli dissolves all political parties.

1952 -Kemal Jumblatt ans Camille Chamoun leads the 'Rose Water' Revolution, a bloodless coup fueled by the need for social and political reform of Lebanon's government which is till run by an inward-turned feudal elite.

1952 -Maronite Camille Chamoun becomes President, favouring the West against the leftist, pan-Arab Nasserite movement.
1954 - SYRIA- Army officers lead a coup against Al-Shishakli, but return a civilian government to power. 
1955 - SYRIA Veteran nationalist Shukri al-Quwatli is elected president. Syria seeks closer ties with Egypt.

1956- many Lebanese begin to follow Nasser. Muslims believed they had lost the prestige they had had under the Ottomans before 1920 when the French separated Lebanon from Syria.

-until 1958- Lebanese governments tried to steer a middle course, reaching out both to the west and the Arab world.
United Arab Republic
1958 February - Syria and Egypt join the United Arab Republic (UAR). Egyptian president Gamal Abdul Nasser heads the new state. He orders the dissolution of Syrian political parties, to the dismay of the Baath party, which had campaigned for union.

The 1958 Civil War.

1958- Unrest during the Suez Crisis. Chamoun’s acceptance of US aid and his opposition to a union of Syria and Egypt causes fighting between Christians and Pan Arab Nasserites who have Syrian and Egyptian support.

-General Fouad Chebab, a Muslim, becomes president of Lebanon. US troops are withdrawn. Chebab restores Muslim parity with Christians in the assembly. Lebanon begins to lean toward the Arab states.

Decline of the Arab Nationalist Movement.

1961- SYRIA- September - Discontent with Egyptian domination of the UAR-The United Arab Republic dissolves due to a Baathist coup in Syria.

1961- Syria’s withdrawal from a Pan Arab union with Egypt aggravates a rift between pro Arb and pro Western forces in Lebanon.

1962- Syria incites a coup to draw Lebanon into a Greater Syria but the plot is crushed.

1963 March - SYRIA Army officers seize power. A Baathist cabinet is appointed and Amin al-Hafez becomes president.

1966 February - SYRIA Salah Jadid leads an internal coup against the civilian Baath leadership, overthrowing Amin al-Hafez and arresting Salah al-Din al-Bitar and Michel Aflaq. Hafez al-Assad becomes defence minister.  

The Arrival of the PLO

-the late 60s- Palestinian Resistance units begin to infiltrate south Lebanon . Druze leader Kamal Jumblatt encourages their entry into Lebanon in order to weaken the Maronites.
1967 June - Israeli forces seize the Golan Heights from Syria and destroy much of Syria's air force in the Six day War with Egypt, Jordan and Syria.

1967- Lebanon gives lip service to the Arab cause in the Six Day War but tries to steer a middle course..

-1968- Dec. 28- Israel raids Beruit in reprisal for a Lebanon-based attack by Palestinian militants on an Iasraeli air plane in Athens.

1969- after attempting to limit the PLO’s activities, the Lebanese army engages against PLO units.
Hafez al Assad
1970 November - Hafez al-Assad overthrows president Nur al-Din al-Atasi and imprisons Salah Jadid. 

1970- Bashir and Amin Jamayyel begint to take over leadership of the Maronite Phalange from their father Pierre. Their ascendance begins the eclipse of Chamoun.

Prelude to Civil War.

1970s- first shots of the civil war fired out when Shia and Druze Muslims rebel against Maronite Christians and Sunni rule.

-the war complicates as the PLO, driven out by the Israelis, sets up around Beirut. The PLO sides with the Drize and Shia in the civil war.
1971 March - SYRIA- Assad is elected president for a seven-year term in a plebiscite. 

1973- a brief upsurge of sectarian fighting. The Lebanese army engages Palestinian groups.

1973 - SYRIA- Rioting breaks out after Assad drops the constitutional requirement that the president must be a Muslim. He is accused of heading an atheist regime. The riots are suppressed by the army.

1973 6 October - SYRIA- Syria and Egypt go to war with Israel but fail to retake the Golan Heights seized during
1973- Lebanon stays neutral in the Yom Kippur war.
1974 May - Syria and Israel sign a disengagement agreement.
1974- Palestianian groups launch attacks from Lebanon against Israel.
the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. 

1975 February - SYRIA- Assad says he's prepared to make peace with Israel in return for an Israeli withdrawal from "all occupied Arab land".

LEBANESE CIVIL WAR.
Stage 1- The Reformist Alliance.

1975- April 13- In response to the assassination of one of their leaders, Christian Maronite Phalagists launch an attack on Palestinians, inaugurating a full civil war.

1975- Left wing Shia and Druze Muslims supported by Syria revolt against Arab Maronite Christian (Eastern Chrisitians in communion with Rome) and Sunni control of the government. The Maronites are supported by Israel. The Druzes are led by Kamal Jumblatt, the Shia by Moussa Sadr.

-Shia leader Moussa Sadr undermines the Higher Muslim Council by calling for a Higher Shia Council.

-the war complicates as the PLO, driven out of Palestine by the Israelis and from Syria by the Syrians sets up around Beirut, using Lebanon as a new base for sorties against Israel.

1975- with Egypt having signed a peace accord with Israel, Syria’s Alawite regime decides to take over leadership of the Arab cause from Egypt by backing the PLO rebellion in Lebanon.

-the Shia form an alliance with the left of the PLO.

-The PLO sides with Druze and Shia Muslims and the LNM militia in the growing civil war. Government order dissolves into anarchy.

Stage 2- Syrian Intervention and Occupation.

1976- Sakris becomes president.
1976 June - Syrian army intervenes in the Lebanese civil war to ensure that the status quo is maintained, and the Maronites remain in power. 

1976- Syria forms the Arab Deterrent Force (ADF) and invades Lebanon at the request of Suleiman Franjieh, supporting the Maronites to prevent the Palestinians from gaining control. Syrian intervention is opposed by Druze leader Kamal Jumblatt.

-Oct- a ceasefire fails to last.

1976- the PLO shifts to southern Lebanon, out of reach of Syria’s ADF, but giving Arafat more direct control over them.

-West Beirut is riven by competing militias.

-East and North Beirut is the objective of Christian militias backed by Israel.

-fighting continues despite the presence of Multinational Peace Troops.

1977- Druze leader, Kamal Jumblatt is assassinated and succeeded by his son Walid as head of the Progressive Socialist Party.

Stage Three: First Invasion by Israel.
1978 - SYRIA- In response to the Camp David peace agreement between Egypt and Israel, Assad sets out to gain strategic parity with Israel.

1978- March- June – seeing that there is no longer any central authority in Lebanon to deal with the PLO, Israel invades in an attempt to crush the PLO in southern Lebanon and forms a security zone north of the Israeli border.

-Imad Mughaniyah, as a member of Arafat's elite 'Force 17' works as a sniper, on the Green Line, separating Muslim from Christian Beirut.

-the UN sends in an ineffective UNIFIL force of 6,000.

-the Soviet Union provides arms for Syria and the PLO.

Stage Four: Unification of the Christian cause.

1979- 1980- In internal clashes, rhe Christian Falangists defeat the National Liberal party for control of the Maronite cause.
Muslim Uprisings in Syria.
1980 - SYRIA- After the Islamic Revolution in Iran, Muslim groups instigate uprisings and riots in Aleppo, Homs and Hama. Assad begins to stress Syria's adherence to Islam.

1980 - SYRIA Muslim Brotherhood member tries to assassinate Assad.

1980 September - SYRIA- Start of Iran-Iraq war. Syria backs Iran, in keeping with the traditional rivalry between Baathist leaderships in Iraq and Syria.
1981 December - SYRIA- Israel annexes the Golan Heights.
Syria's Assad Crushes Hama Uprising.
1982 February - SYRIA-Muslim Brotherhood uprising in the city of Hama. The revolt is suppressed by the military, whom rights organizations accuse of killing tens of thousands of civilians. 
 1981- peace agreement between Israel, Syria and the PLO.

1980s- Syria sends its army in to restore order and occupies Lebanon. Syria and the PLO hold separate parts of the country.

-the Soviet Union provides arms for Syria and the PLO.

Stage Five- Second Invasion by Israel.

1982- Israel invades, wiping out PLO strongholds in Tyre and Sidon, attacks Beirut by land, air and sea. Israeli troops encircle and bomb East Beirut, home of the PLO HQ. Israel drives out Syria and the PLO- sending the PLO to resettle in various Arab countries under the eye of international peace keepers.

-PLO Force 17 member, Imad Mughaniyah stays behind, fighting in Beirut.

Aug. Maronite Bashir Gemael is elected President.

-the expulsion of the PLO from Lebanon results in the creation of Hezbollah as the new resistance to Israeli occupation, dedicated also to the annihilation of Israel and the establishment of a Palestinian theocracy. After falling out with the PLO, Imad Mughinyah joins the newly formed Hezbollah and becomes its security chief. His is also prominent in Islamic Jihad.

-Sept.- When president Bashir Gemayel of Lebanon is assassinated in a bombing of the Christian Falangist headquarters,, Israel, fearing further instability, occupies Beirut. In the process it allows a proxy force of Christian Maronite militias to massacre Palestinian refugees in the Shabra and Shatila refugee camps- the Christians probably doing do in retaliation for the death of Gemayel.

-French, US and Italian troops are dispatched to restore order.

-Bashir’s brother Amin Gemayel is elected president.

-the US pressures Israel for a settlement.

1982 -Israeli troops occupy southern Lebanon to stop sorties against Israel by the PLO and the Shia militia, Hezbollah.

1983- April 18- a bomb destroys the US embassy in Beruit, killing 50.

- May- in a treaty brokered by the US, President Amin Gemayal, though a Maronite must ask Israel, as well as Syria, to withdraw, if he is to retain national support. Even if it exposes him to Druze and Muslim militias. Nevertheless he successfully negotiates Israeli withdrawal. The Syrians, however, refuse to withdraw.

-when Israel finally withdraws, the Christian militias clash with Syrian backed Druze militias.

Oct. 23- -Multinational Peace Troops suffer simultaneous bomb attacks, killing 230 US marines in a marine barracks and 58 French partroopers. Hezbollah militant Imad Mughaniyah is suspected in the blast that killed the 230 marines.

-fighting continues despite the 1982 ceasefire.
1983 - SYRIA- Assad suffers a heart attack, according to reports denied by authorities. Assad's brother Rifaat apparently prepares to take power
1984 SYRIA- Rifaat is promoted to the post of vice-president. 

Stage Six: Syria Reasserts Control.

-1984- Israeli troops are forced to withdraw to their south Lebanon security zone.

-the Christian, South Lebanese Army, with the aid of Israeli troops, occupies south Lebanon.

-1985- TWA airliner hijacked by Hezbollah on flight from Beirut to Algeirs. Hezbollah demands the release of Hezbollah prisoners detained by Israel. US citizen killed. US indicts Imad Mughaniyah for hijacking.
-Beirut CIA station chief William Buckley is kidnapped and murdered. Imad Mughaniyeh is suspected.

-mid 1980s- various militias begin taking westerners hostage. Islamic Jihad kidnaps western academics and journalists in an attempt to free 17 Hezbollah members imprisoned in Kuwait. When attempts to force the release of the 17 failed, Imad Mughaniyah apparently arranged the kidnapping of British Anglican peace envoy, Terry Anderson.

-Mughaniyeh is allegedly involved in the Iran-Contra, arms for hostage deal between Washington and Iran. Working for Islamic Jihad, he releases hostages in return for which Iran buys arms from the US, the proceeds going to fund the Nicaraguan Contras

-Shia women begin wearing the black Chador as a gesture of traditionalist solidarity.

-in the absence of Israel, Lebanese factions turn on one another as the civil war fragments.

-President Amin Jemayyel is forced to recognize Syrian influence.

-PLO units filter back into Lebanon.
1987 February - Assad sends troops into Lebanon for a second time to enforce a ceasefire in Beirut. 

Stage Seven: Syria Stretched to the Limit.

-1988- Syrian troops enter Lebanon to restore order. Druze leader Walid Jumblatt reluctantly accepts Syrian intervention.

-Sept. President Amin Gamayel’s term ends. Due to the impossibility of elections, he brings in military government by Maronite Michal Aoun whose mandate is to expel Syria.

Stage Eight- Aoun's War of Liberation against Syria.

-Syrian troops are attacked by the Lebanese army, led by General Michel Aoun.

-the Arab league brokers a truce between Muslims and Christians but makes no mention of Syrian occupation.

-Mughaniyah hijacks a Kuwat Airways jet to Cyprus and then to Algeria.

Srage Nine- the Taif Accord.

-1989 the Arab League proposes the Ta’if Accord, signed by the last members of the assembly standing before the civil war in 1975; the accord reduces the representation of Maronite Christians in the Lebanese government. Druze leader Walid Jumblatt accepts it reluctantly.

1989-1990- revolts against Syrian occupation by Gen. Michel Aoun are put down by Syria and Aoun is forced to leave the country.

-President Gemayel refuses to reduce the the permanent Maronite majority in the Taif Accord.assembly.
1990 -SYRIA-  Iraq invades Kuwait; Syria joins the US-led coalition against Iraq. This leads to improved relations with Egypt and the US. 

1990s- Hezbollah drives Israeli troops from southern Lebanon.

1990- President Muawad assassinated. President Hrawi succeds him.

-internecine fighting among Christian groups.

- Syria quietly re-occuppies Lebanon and enforces the Ta’if Accord.

-early 1990s- the militias begin releasing western hostages.

- Nov. -rival Shia groups make peace among themselves.
1991 October - Syria participates in the Middle East peace conference in Madrid and holds talks with Israel. 

-1991- a government of national unity is established. A timetable for disarmament of the militias is established.

-the Lebanese army prepares to re-take control of the south.

-Hezbolllah releases hostage Terry Anderson.

-Aug- peace talks with Israel, Syria and a joint Palestinian-Jordanian delegation continue through 1992.

1992- fighting continues between various groups; and the Syrian military and the PLO are still in Lebanon.

-Israeli helicopter strike killes Hezbollah Secretary General Sheikh Abbas Mussawi in southern Lebanon.

-a general election in Lebanon is boycotted by many Maronite Christian parties. Amal and Hezbollah gain the most seats and Rafiq Hariri becomes Prime Minister. The constitution dictates that the president must be a maronite Christian, the Prime Minister a Sunni Muslim and the 108 member parliament divided equally between Christians and Muslms.

-Israel indicts Lebanese Hezbollah security chief Imad Mughaniyah in the 1992 bombing of the Jewish embassy in Argentina and in the bombing of a Buenos Aires Jewsih centre which killed 95.
1994 - SYRIA- Assad's son Basil, who was likely to succeed his father, is killed in a car accident.
1998 - SYRIA Assad's brother Rifaat is "relieved of his post" as vice-president.
1999 December - SYRIA Talks with Israel over the Golan Heights begin in the US. 
2000 January - Syrian-Israeli talks are indefinitely postponed.
Bashar Al Assad.
2000 June - Assad dies and is succeeded by his son, Bashar.
2000 November - Bashar orders the release of 600 political prisoners.
2001 April - Outlawed Muslim Brotherhood says it will resume political activity, 20 years after its leaders were forced to flee.
 2001- Syria withdraws 25,000 troops from Beruit but leaves 20,000 in the surrounding area.
2001 September - SYRIA Detention of MPs and other pro-reform activists, crushing hopes of a break with the authoritarian past of Hafez al-Assad.
2001 November - SYRIA- 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.
2001 November - SYRIA- More than 100 dissidents amnestied. Campaigners say hundreds of political prisoners remain in jail.

POST WAR SYRIA AND US INVASION OF IRAQ
2002 May - 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.
2003 April - 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.
2003 September - President Assad appoints Mohammed Naji al-Otari as PM.
2003 October - Israeli air strike against Palestinian militant camp near Damascus. Syria says action is "military aggression".
2004 January - President Assad visits Turkey, the first Syrian leader to do so. The trip marks the end of decades of frosty relations.
2004 March - At least 25 killed in clashes between members of the Kurdish minority, police and Arabs in the north-east.
2004 May - US imposes economic sanctions on Syria over what it calls its support for terrorism and failure to stop militants entering Iraq.

Tention between Christian President Lahoud and Sunni Prime Minister Hariri.

2004- Aug. Under Syrian pressure, its own man in Lebanon, President Lahoud, remains in office beyond the constitutional six year time limit.

2004 September - UN Security Council resolution calls for all foreign forces to leave Lebanon.

2004 December - SYRIA Authorities say they have amnestied 112 political prisoners.

2004- Syrian President Bashir Assad, in a private meeting with Lebanon's western-oriented Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, allegedly delivers a veiled threat of death should Hariri refuse to accept an extension of Syrian-backed President Lahoud's mandate to rule Lebanon.

2005- Hariri, who has almost rebuilt Lebanon in the wake of the war, resigns rather than confirm an extension of the mandate of Syria's proconsul, President Lahoud.

Assassination of Rafiq Hariri.

2005- February 14- Hariri is assassinated. Syria is strongly suspected. A national outpouring of support for Hariri, combined with international censure, forces Syria out of Lebanon.
2005 April - Syria says it has withdrawn all of its military forces from Lebanon. 

-the new, pro-West, independence government of Prime Minister Sinioria is faced with heavy representation of the the Syria-supported Hezbollah Party in parliament and Cabinet.
2005 October - Interior minister and Syria's former head of intelligence in Lebanon, Ghazi Kanaan, commits suicide, officials say. UN inquiry into assassination of former Lebanese PM Rafik Hariri implicates senior Syrian officials.
2005 December - Exiled former vice-president, Abdul Halim Khaddam, alleges that Syrian leaders threatened former Lebanese PM Hariri before his assassination.
2006 February -SYRIA-  Danish and Norwegian embassies in Damascus are set on fire during a demonstration against cartoons in a Danish newspaper portraying the Muslim Prophet Muhammad.  

Hezbollah and the Summer 2006 Israeli Invasion.

2006- July- Hezbollah kidnaps Israel soldiers in the border area with Israel. In response, Israel invades Lebanon in order to destroy Hezbollah and cut off all support for hezbollah by Syria and Iran.
2006 July - Thousands of people flee into Syria to escape the Israeli-Lebanese War.
2006 September - SYRIA 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. 

2006- November- the UN investigation of the murder of Rafiq Hariri implicates four Lebanese generals suspected of carrying out the attack on Syrian orders. Syria's president Bashir Assad's inner cicrcle is named as the instigator of the plot. Amal and Hezbollah members resign in protest.

-Lebanon's finance minister, Pierre Gemayel is assassinated. Syria, once again is suspected. In light of UN disclosure of Syria's implication in the Hariri assassination, Syria is suspected of attempting to derail any further inquiries.

Hezbollah Agitates for More power.

-Hezbollah holds mass demonstrations for the resignation of the Sinioria government and new elections that will more acurately show, in Hezbollah's view, the strength of the Shia vote.

-Hezbollah security chief Imad Mughaniyah is reported meeting Iranian President Ahmadinejad in Syria.
2006 November - Iraq and Syria restore diplomatic relations after nearly a quarter century.
2006 December - The Iraq Study Group report making recommendations to the US government says neighbours should form a support group to reinforce security and national reconciliation in Iraq. Syria welcomes the chance to participate.

 Aoun Joins Hezbollah.

Dec. 1- Michel Aoun joins Hezbollah in its protest against the Siniora government's refusal to recognize Hezbollah's cabinet strength with a right of veto.
2007 March - European Union reopens dialogue with Syria.
2007 April - 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.
2007 May - SYRIA US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice meets Foreign Minister Walid Muallem, the first contact at this level between the two countries in two years.
2007 May - SYRIA 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.
 Al-Assad endorsed as president for a second seven-year term.
2007- June 27- France's Sarkozy offers to broker all-party talks in Lebanon.

2007- August- In parliamentary by-elections, Government candidate Mohammed Amin Itani is easily elected to replace assassinated Sunni government deputy Walid Eito. More dramatically, however, Camille Khoury of the opposition (Michel Aoun's) Free Patriotic Movement, a Christian opposition party, edges out Amin Gemayyel, leader of the Government'sChristian Falange Party.

Sept.- Lebanese MP Antione Ghanem is assassinated during the run-up to the Presidential elections.

2007 September - Israel carries out an aerial strike against a site in northern Syria that it said was a nuclear facility under construction.

2007 October - Syria imposes tough visa restrictions on Iraqis, saying it can't cope with the influx of refugees.

Standoff over Vacant post of President.

-parliament delays election of a new president until October 23- as the Hezbollah-pro-Syrian bloc boycotts al proceedings. October 23 deadline passes without a decision.

-December- Francois al-Hajj, touted as next army chief, is killed by a car bomb.

2008- January- SYRIA car bomb kills four during attempt on US diplomatic vehicle.
2008 January - Diplomatic row between Damascus and Paris over Lebanon's quest for a consensus president. 

February 12- Hezbollah militant Imad Mughaniyeh killed by Israeli car bomb in Damascus.

March- Damascus: Arab League summit fails to break impasse on election of a new Lebanese prime minister.
2008 March - Syria hosts Arab League summit. Many pro-Western states send lower-level delegations in protest at Syria's stance on Lebanon.
April- army chief and presidential candidate Michel Suleiman warns he will resign if parties don't agree on a president by the summer.
2008 April - The US accuses North Korea of having helped Syria to build a secret nuclear reactor at the site bombed by Israel in 200
2008 May - President Assad announces a 25% pay rise for public sector workers to offset effects of rising food and heating oil prices. 

Hezbollah Occupies West Beirut.

May- government attempts close to down Hezbollah'a telecommunications system throws south Beirut into factional fighting between pro-Syria, anti-government forces represented by Hezbollah and anti-Syrian, pro government Sunnis.

May 25- Parliament finally elects former army chief Michel Suleiman as president.

May 28- Fouad Seniora is re-appointed prime minister by Suleiman.

July 11- Seniora finally forms a unity overnment.

Syria and Lebanon Restore Relations.

July 12- France's President Sarkozy brokers an agreement by which Syria and Lebanon will restore diplomatic relations.
2008 July - 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.
2008 September - 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.
Diplomatic thaw continues 2008 October - Syria establishes diplomatic relations with Lebanon for first time since both countries established independence in 1940s.
October- Syria and Lebanon restore full diplomatic relations for the first time since the 1940s.

2009- March- International Criminal Tribunal to try the suspected killers of Lebanese Prime Minister Hariri, assassinated in 2005. Lebanon is to hand over the 4 pro-Syrian generals suspected in the assassination.
2009 March - Jeffrey Feltman, acting assistant US secretary of state for the Near East, visits Damascus with White House national security aide Daniel Shapiro in first high-level US diplomatic mission for nearly four years. Met Foreign Minister Walid Muallem.
-Trading launches on Syria's stock exchange in sign of gradual liberalisation of state-controlled economy.
2009 April - A key suspect in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was arrested in Dubai. Mohammed Zuhair al-Siddiq, a former Syrian intelligence officer, was a witness to Hariri's killing.
April- General Mohammed Zuhair al Saddiq, a former Lebanese intelligence officer is handed over to the tribunal trying the murder of Hariri.


Suspects in Hariri murder released for lack of evidence.

-Four Lebanese Generals, suspected in the murder of Prime Minister Hariri, are released after the international tribunal finds there is not enough evidence.
2009 May - Syrian writer and pro-democracy campaigner Michel Kilo is released from prison after serving three-year sentence. 

-May- US Vice President Joe Biden visits Lebanon; Hezboollah accuses him of attempting to intefere in upcoming June elections.

-Lebanese army colonel arrested by Lebanon on suspicion of spying for Israel.

Hariri's Pro-Western Alliance Party Defeats Hezbollah in Eelections.

June- Saad Hariri's pro-western March 14 Alliance Party wins election, defeating Hezbollah's March 8 Alliance Party.

2009 June - 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.
2009 July - US special envoy George Mitchell visits for talks with President Assad on Middle East peac
July- Lebanese army arrests 10 suspected Al Qaeda operatives believed to be planning attacks on UN peacekeepers in the south of Lebanon.

2009 August - Iraq and Syria recall their envoys in a deepening rift over charges of responsibility for a string of deadly bomb attacks in Baghdad.

Septmber- Prime Minister Saad Hariri fails to establish a full unity government but continues to attempt to find a balance in allocation of cabinet seats.

Oct 27-  South Lebanese militants fire rockets into northern Israel hitting the border town, Kirya Shamona. Israel responds with a cross-border artillery barrage.

Nov 4- Lebanon bound ship carrying 60 tons of weaponry intercepted by Israeli commandos who say it was destined for Hezbolla and had been loaded in Damietta, Egypt.

Hariri forms National Unity Government, visits Syria for Talks.

2009- Nov 7- Saad Hariri succeeds in forming government of national unity, five months after his bloc won majority of seats in parliament.

2009 December - Lebanon's cabinet endorsed Hezbollah's right to keep its arsenal of weapons.
Prime Minister Saad Hariri visits Damascus for talks with President Bashar Assad, describing the talks as friendly, open and positive,


US sends mixed messages to Syria and warnings about Hezbollah and Iran.

2010 February - US posts first ambassador to Syria after a five-year break. 

2010 February - PM Sa'ad Hariri expresses concern about Israel "threats" after comments by Israeli minister suggesting a new war with Lebanon was likely. Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu distances himself from the comments.

2010 April - US warns of serious repercussions for Syria if reports that it supplied Hezbollah with Scud missiles were true. PM Sa'ad Hariri earlier dismisses the accusations against Syria.

2010 May - US renews sanctions against Syria, saying that Damascus supports terrorist groups, seeks weapons of mass destruction and has provided Lebanon's Hezbollah with Scud missiles in violation of UN resolutions,


2010 June - Eminent defence lawyer Mohannad al-Hassani, head of the Syrian Organisation for Human Rights, is jailed for three years for "spreading false information and weakening national morale" nearly a year after his arrest.

2010 July - Lebanon's most eminent Shia cleric, Grand Ayatollah Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah, dies.

2010 July - Syria and Iran deny US media reports that Iran has given Syria an advanced radar system that could hamper Israel's ability to overfly Syria and hit Iran's nuclear facilities.
Full face veils banned from universities.

2010 July - Syria and Iran deny US media reports that Iran has given Syria an advanced radar system that could hamper Israel's ability to overfly Syria and hit Iran's nuclear facilities.

-Full face veils banned from Syrian universities. 



2010 August - Lebanese and Israeli troops exchange fire along border; two Lebanese soldiers, a senior Israeli officer and a journalist are killed.

Rapprochement between Syria and Iraq.

2010 September - Syria and Iraq restore diplomatic ties a year after breaking them off.

Oct 4, It was reported that Syria has ordered the arrest of 33 people over false testimony given in the UN-backed probe into the assassination of Lebanese ex-premier Rafiq Hariri. Observers said the warrants carried no legal weight in Lebanon as the crime in question took place on Lebanese soil and the complainant as well as most of the defendants are Lebanese.

Oct 13, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad told visiting Iraqi premier Nuri al-Maliki that better ties between the two nations will be strengthened by the formation of a new Iraqi government.

Nasrallah Condemns UN Hariri Tribunal, gets backing from Iran.

October - Amid signs of heightened sectarian tension, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad pays controversial visit to Lebanon that culminates in rally held at Hezbollah stronghold near Israeli border.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah calls on Lebanese to boycott UN tribunal into 2005 killing of former PM Rafik Hariri, saying the tribunal is in league with Israel.

Oct 28, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, called on all Lebanese to boycott the UN tribunal investigating the 2005 assassination of a former prime minister, saying all information gathered by the team was being sent to Israel. He spoke a day after a crowd of women attacked two UN investigators and a Lebanese interpreter as they gathered evidence at a private gynecology clinic in Beirut. He confirmed that the wives and relatives of Hezbollah commanders and officials were among the clinic's patients.

Nov 23, Lebanese PM Saad Hariri dismissed a media report that implicated Hezbollah and possibly Lebanon's head of police intelligence, Colonel Wissam Hassan, in the 2005 murder of his father, ex-premier Rafiq Hariri.

Nov 27, Lebanese PM Saad Hariri expressed concerns for stability in the Middle East as he began a visit to Tehran to rally Iran's support for his efforts to keep Lebanon stable amid tensions over a U.N. probe into the assassination of his father, Rafik Hariri.

 Dec 7, The New York Times reported that US officials believe the militant group Hezbollah, based in Lebanon, has acquired an arsenal of some 50,000 rockets and missiles, raising fears of an enlarged conflict with Israel. Iran and Syria were named as the sources.

US appoints envoy to Syria.
 2010 December - US appoints envoy to Syria after six-year break

 Dec 29, President Barack Obama bypassed Congress to name the first US ambassador to Syria in nearly six years. Obama took the controversial step of forcing through the appointments of Ambassador Robert Ford and five other officials while the Senate, which normally needs to confirm nominations, was out of session.

Jan 12, 2011- Lebanese government falls as Hesbollah ministers walk out over Hariri Tribunal.

SYRIAN UPRISING

The Deraa Massacre.

2011 March - "Day of Dignity" protest held in Damascus demanding release of political prisoners. Some 35 people are arrested. At a "Day of Rage" rally in the southern city of Deraa, security forces shoot a number of people dead, triggering days of violent unrest and more civilian deaths.

-The government announces some conciliatory measures and releases dozens of political prisoners in an attempt to damp down the unrest. President Assad dismisses government, accuses protesters of being Israeli agents. 

2011 April - State of emergency - in force since 1963 - is lifted.

April 18- Damascus vows to crush what it calls an "armed revolt" by "Salafists."

Spread of protests and violence.

April 18-20- - 18-27: Crackdowns in Damascus, Banias and Daraa, cradle of the uprising where 100 are reportedly killed on the 23rd. Deadly violence also in Latakia.

April  25-26- Protests spread and strengthen, with calls for the regime's fall.

2011 May - Army tanks enter Deraa, Banyas, Homs and suburbs of Damascus in an effort to crush anti-regime protests.

Syria- US tightens sanctions in response to bloody crackdown on protests. European Union follows suit days later. President Assad announces amnesty for political prisoners.

2011 June - 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.


Lebanon: 2011 June - Najib Mikati forms cabinet dominated by Hezbollah. The UN's Special Tribunal for Lebanon issues four arrest warrants over the murder of Rafik Hariri. The accused are members of Hezbollah, which says it won't allow their arrest.

2011 June - The IAEA nuclear watchdog decides to report Syria to the UN Security Council over its alleged covert nuclear reactor programme. The structure housing the alleged reactor was destroyed in an Israeli air raid in 2007.

Opposition organises 2011 July - President Assad sacks the governor of the northern province of Hama after mass demonstration there, eventually sending in troops to restore order at the cost of scores of lives.

Syrian opposition activists meet in Istanbul. 
-Dozens of opposition activists meet in Istanbul to form a unified opposition.

July 15- More than one million protest, notably in Hama and Deir Ezzor.

Syria- July 31- the army kills 100 in Hama.

US, EU and Arab nations begins to pressure Assad.

2011 August 18 - US President Barack Obama and allies call on President Assad to step down. Western and Arab states later impose sanctions on his regime.

August-September- Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain withdraw ambassadors. U.S. imposes economic sanctions, EU bans Syrian oil imports.

The Syrian National Council forges common opposition front.

2011 October - 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.


2011 November - Arab League votes to suspend Syria, accusing it of failing to implement an Arab peace plan. Weeks later the League votes to impose sanctions.

Rebel attacks and suicide bombs in Damascus.

Nov. 16- 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.


2011 December - Death toll in uprising exceeds 5,000, says UN.
Syria agrees to an Arab League initiative allowing Arab observers into the country.

Twin suicide bombs outside security buildings in Damascus kill 44. Opposition suspects government of attacks.

Thousand of protesters gather in Homs to greet Arab League monitors.
State TV says more than 700 detainees freed.

2012 January - Suicide bomber kills 26 in Damascus. Government vows ''iron fist'' response.
Arab League suspends its monitoring mission because of worsening violence.

- Government releases 5,000 prisoners. Death toll soars past 7,000.

Russia and China block UN resolution on Syria.
2012 February - Russia and China block a UN Security Council draft resolution on Syria, and the government steps up the bombardment of Homs and other cities.

The UN says that more than 7,500 people have died since the security crackdown began.

Feb 4- China and Russia veto a UN Security Council resolution on Syria for the second time in four months. 
Feb 10- Twin car bombs in Aleppo kill 28.

Feb 12- The Arab League says it will begin contacts with the opposition, offering political and financial support. In January it offers a power transfer plan.

Feb 22- An American and a French journalist killed in Homs, after another French journalist was killed there in January.
Massacre by government forces in Homs. Rebels lose Idlib.

2012 March- Syria forces recapture of Homs district of Baba Amr from rebels and carry out massacres. Refugees flee to Lebanon.


March 14- Government Forces seize Idlib city after a four-day assault.

March 17: Two bombs in Damascus kill 27.

Former U.N. chief Kofi Annan holds talks in Syria. U.N. says death toll exceeds 9,000. Syria agrees to U.N.-backed peace plan.

Kofi Annan's Peace Plan Compromised. Syria defies UN  April 10 ceasefire deadline.

March 21-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.

April 5- The Security Council formally backs an April 10 deadline Annan agreed with Damascus to end its attacks on protest hubs and on the opposition to do the same at the latest 48 hours later.

April 8- Damascus says it will not withdraw forces without "written guarantees" the opposition will also lay down arms.

April 9- Surge in violence kills at least 105 people. Shots fired across the border wound six in Turkey and kill a cameraman in Lebanon.

April 10- 52 killed. Annan says he has received reports of troops moving into other parts of the country and tells the UN Syria has not sent a "signal of peace." The UN Security Council calls on Damascus to keep a Thursday 0300 GMT deadline for a complete ceasefire.

April 11- The regime presses its assaults on protest hubs, more than a day after the peace plan was scheduled to enter into effect. It says that it will cease military operations against rebel fighters from Thursday, but will retaliate against any attack by the armed terrorist groups.

Violence surges with Houla massacre as Government defies Ceasefire

 April 12: Annan-brokered ceasefire comes into effect at 6:00am (0300 GMT).

Syria says it will abide by a cease-fire but violence continues. U.N. observers arrive.

 2012 May - 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.

Syria violence begins to spill over into Lebanon.

Lebanon: May 12, In Lebanon an army officer was killed by sniper fire after clashes broke out between the army and a group of young Islamists, who were demonstrating in Tripoli for the release of a terrorism suspect. A resident of the largely Sunni district of Kobbe was killed in clashes between factions supporting and opposed to the revolt in neighboring Syria. Five people were left injured.

May 14, Clashes in Lebanon continued for a third day, with gunmen firing assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades as sectarian tensions spilled across the border from Syria.

May 20, In north Lebanon army troops shot dead a Sunni cleric when his convoy failed to stop at a checkpoint, the scene of deadly clashes linked to the uprising in Syria. Another religious figure in the car of cleric Ahmad Abdel Wahed, known for his support of the anti-regime uprising in neighboring Syria, was also killed.

-Shadi Mawlawi, an outspoken Lebanese critic of Syrian President Bashar Assad, was arrested and set off several days of clashes in northern Lebanon. Mawlawi was released on May 22.

Syria holds parliamentary elections, violence continues, U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan appeals to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to stop the violence.

Syria shoots down Turkish jet fighter. Turkey gives severe warning to Syria.


2012 Summer - Syrian conflict spills over into Lebanon in deadly clashes between Sunni Muslims and Alawites in Tripoli and Beirut.

2012 June - President Assad tells his reshuffled government that they face "real war", indicating the authorities' conviction that the conflict will be long-lasting and require the sidelining of all other priorities.

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.

2012  Jul 20, The UN refugee agency said up to 30,000 Syrians have fled into Lebanon over the past 48 hours. The UN Security Council added a "final" 30 days to the mandate of the UN Supervision Mission, tasked with overseeing a ceasefire that was supposed to have taken effect in April but which has been violated daily.

Western nations expel Syrian diplomats, Annan urges increased pressure on Syria.

Free Syrian Army Makes Decisive Inroads in Damascus and Aleppo.

2012 July - 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.

Red Cross expands areas of Syria it says are in civil war. Violence increases across the country.

Jul 7, Syria's military began large-scale exercises simulating defense against outside "aggression." Activists struggling to topple the regime reported fierce government offensives to try to retake rebellious areas outside of Aleppo and near Damascus. Shells fired from inside Syria killed 2 Lebanese civilians and injured 10 others. 77 people were killed across Syria, among them 39 civilians, 25 soldiers and 13 rebels

Red Cross Declares Syria in a state of Civil War.  High level officials defect from regime.

July 15- Red Cross declares conflict a civil war


July 17- Syrian defence minister, Dawoud Rajha, killed in suicide bombing  that struck at the heart of the country's security establishment.


2012 August - 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.

UN peace monitors pull out of Syria.

-A day after Syrian warplanes attacked the rebel-controlled northern town of Azaz and a bombing near the U.N. observer headquarters in Damascus, the United Nations Security Council decided to end the U.N. monitoring mission in Syria when its mandate expires on August 19.

2012 September - The Free Syrian Army claims responsibility for two explosions at the military headquarters in Damascus. The government says four guards were killed in the "suicide attacks".

- Fighting intensifies in Aleppo and continues across the country.  New U.N.-Arab League envoy, Lakhdar Brahimi, is expected to visit the country and meet with Assad.

Border tensions increase between Syria and Turkey.

2012 October - 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.

Lebanon security chief killed by car bomb. Violence between Government supporters and opposition.

Lebanon: Oct. 19- A car bomb killed the chief of Lebanon's police intelligence department, Brigadier-General Wissam al-Hassan, in a Christian neighbourhood in the capital, Beirut.

Oct. 21- violent clashes occurred throughout the country which were triggered by the assassination. Two young girls and a man were killed during clashes between Bab Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen
The following night, pro-Hariri gunmen clashed with rivals in the Tariq al-Jadeedah neighbourhood of Beirut. Two Sunnis and an Alevi were killed in Tripoli and 15 people were wounded on 22 October. In total, clashes from 19 to 23 October left 10 dead and 65 wounded.
  
Oct 22- Violence subsides in Beirut, but opposition steps up campaign to oust prime minister after assassination of security chief

Oct. 24- Future Movement protesters clashed with the Lebanese army.

Oct 25-  The Syr­i­an mil­it­ary says its forces will ob­serve a tem­por­ary hol­i­day cease-fire co­in­cid­ing with the Muslim hol­i­day of Eid al-Adha. The truce is vi­ol­ated with­in hours, with both sides blam­ing each oth­er. 

November 2- A United Na­tions hu­man rights of­fi­cial says the ap­par­ent sum­mary ex­e­cu­tion of at least eight Syr­i­an gov­ern­ment sol­diers by Syr­i­an rebels doc­u­mented on am­a­teur video “looks very like a war crime.”


Rebel forces and opposition groups forge union in Qatar.

Nov. 11- The deeply di­vided Syr­i­an op­pos­i­tion takes a step to­ward re­newed unity, form­ing a new co­ali­tion de­signed to build stronger in­ter­na­tion­al sup­port for its goal of oust­ing the gov­ern­ment of Syr­i­an Pres­id­ent Bashar As­sad. After more than a week of some­times con­ten­tious dis­cus­sions in the Qatari cap­it­al, Doha, Syr­i­an dis­sid­ents form the Syr­i­an Na­tion­al Co­ali­tion for Op­pos­i­tion and Re­volu­tion­ary Forces.

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, and France is the only country to recognize the Coalition as the sole legitimate representative of the Syrian people. 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 "conservative".
-Israeli military fire on Syrian artillery units after several months of occasional shelling from Syrian positions across the Golan Heights, the first such return of fire since the Yom Kippur War of 1973.


Fighting between Sunni Salafist and Shia groups in Lebanon coincide with Syrian attack on Lebanese Islamists.

Lebanon- November 11, three people were killed and four others wounded after supporters of Salafi cleric Ahmad al-Assir clashed with supporters of Hezbollah in the southern city of Sidon. Assir stated "We have a blood score to settle with Hizbullah that can only be settled with blood", and that he considered forming an armed resistance group.

Lebanon- November 30, between 14 and 20 Islamists from North Lebanon, as well a Palestinian, were killed in an ambush in Tall Kalakh near the Lebanese border. They had gone to Syria to fight alongside the Syrian rebels.

On December 2, Lebanese soldiers clashed with Syrian rebels near the Syrian border. There were no casualties


US and UN warn Syria against use of chemical weapons.

2012- Dec. 3- The United States bluntly warns Syr­i­an Pres­id­ent Bashar As­sad against us­ing chem­ic­al weapons as his forces lose ground to rebel fight­ers, re­flect­ing U.S. con­cerns over new in­tel­li­gence in­dic­at­ing that Syr­ia might be pre­par­ing to un­leash some of its chem­ic­al agent stock­piles. The United Na­tions says it is pulling non­es­sen­tial for­eign staff from Syr­ia be­cause of de­teri­or­at­ing se­cur­ity.

Syrian warplanes bombed a security building that had been taken over by rebels along the Turkish border, wounding at least 11 people and sending dozens of civilians fleeing across the frontier, a Turkish official said. A day earlier, Lebanese soldiers exchanged fire with Syrian rebels across their border, media reports said, fueling concerns that the Arab Spring's longest and deadliest revolt could draw in neighbouring countries and spark a regional war.

Dec 4- NATO foreign ministers are expected to approve Turkey's request for Patriot anti-missile systems to bolster its defence against strikes from neighbouring Syria.

Lebanon: Dec 4-6- At least 11 people were killed and 73 injured in Tripoli between 4 and 6 of December, as Awalites and Sunnis were involved in heavy clashes, which were sparked by the Tall Kalakh incident.

-American officials said on 8 December that American satellites and other tools have detected increased activity at several chemical weapons depots in Syria. They believe that atleast one military base has been ordered to begin combining components of Sarin nerve gas to make it ready to use. William Hague, the British Secretary, confirmed their awareness of the evidence.

Dec. 6- Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird is calling on China and Russia to lean on the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad as reports emerge he could unleash chemical weapons on his own people.

The US joins Britain, France, Turkey and Gulf states in Recognizing Syrian Opposition.

-The US joins Britain, France, Turkey and Gulf states in formally recognizing 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".

Dec. Dec. 10, 2012:   Syrian rebels capture parts of another large army base in the country's north, just west of the city of Aleppo, tightening the opposition's grip on areas close to the Turkish border, activists say. CTV

Dec. 11, 2012: The Obama administration has declared a Syrian rebel group with alleged ties to al-Qaida as a terrorist organization.

Assad shows no signs of stepping down.

Dec. 24, 2012: The international envoy given the task of pushing to end Syria's civil  says he's worried after discussing the crisis with Syrian President Bashar Assad in the capital Damascus. Envoy Lakhdar Brahimi says he and Assad exchanged views on the conflict and discussed possible steps forward, which the envoy did not disclose. The two met hours after a government strike on a bakery in a rebel-held town in central Syria killed more than 60 people.

Dec. 29, 2012: Russia's foreign minister says Syria's president has no intention of stepping down and can't be persuaded to do so. Sergei Lavrov's comments came after a meeting with Lakhdar Brahimi, the U.N.'s envoy for the Syrian crisis. Lavrov said the opposition is endangering many lives by insisting on Assad's resignation as a precondition for talks.

On 3 January 2013,in Lebanon,  one person was killed and three hurt during clashes between the Popular Nasserite Organization and the Hezbollah-affiliated Resistance Brigades. The following day, the body of a Palestinian man was found in Sidon by the army.

Jan. 6, 2013: Assad called on Syrians to defend their country against Islamic extremists seeking to destroy the nation, dismissing any prospect of dialogue with the "murderous criminals" he says are behind the uprising. In a one hour speech to the nation in which he appeared confident and relaxed, Assad struck a defiant tone, ignoring international demands for him to step down.

Jan. 7, 2013: Government troops repulsed a rebel attack on a police school in Aleppo, one day after President Bashar Assad called on Syrians to fight an opposition that he characterized as religious extremists.

Violence increases as US and Russia search for a peace plan.


Jan. 9, 2013: Syrian rebels freed 48 Iranians held captive since August in exchange for the release of more than 2,000 detainees in the first major prisoner swap of the country's civil war, officials said.

Jan. 14, 2013: A Syrian government airstrike hits a house in a rebellious suburb of Damascus killing at least 13 people, including eight children, and trapping others under the rubble, activists said.

Jan 16- Talks between U.S. and Russian officials on the Syrian crisis have been focused on the “sequence of events,” meaning that the discussions have focused on which steps should be taken first on the way to forming a transitional government. However, the talks are still not at the stage of offering possible candidates for the transitional government

Jan 2o-  Syria's opposition umbrella group, which most Western and Arab powers opposed to the Damascus regime have recognised, is meeting in Istanbul in a bid to name a prime minister-in-exile, one of its leaders says. Experts suggested the exercises will serve to project Russia’s naval power to a highly explosive region and render moral support for the embattled regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Jan 20- The Russian Navy has begun its biggest war games in the high seas in decades that will include manoeuvres off the shores of Syria.  It is the largest naval manoeuvres since the collapse of the Soviet Union, officials said. Experts suggested the exercises will serve to project Russia’s naval power to a highly explosive region and render moral support for the embattled regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

“This part of the world ocean has key geopolitical interest for Russia, considering that the Russian Navy has a maintenance and supply facility in Syria,” the Russian Navy General Staff said last month.

2013 March - Syrian warplanes bomb the northern city of Raqqa hours after reports say rebels had overrun it. US and Britain pledge non-military aid to rebels.