HISTORY IN THE NEWS

Gaddafi's hold narrowing to centralTripoli.

2011-02-25T19:41:00.000-08:00

HISTORY IN THE NEWS:

DEDICATED TO THE ORIGINS OF CONTEMPORARY EVENTS AROUND THE WORLD.

TAG: Libya's division between east and west goes far back in history as eastern-based rebels lead the revolt against Gaddafi, threatening his hold on Tripoli

IN THE NEWS: WITH BENGAZI AND EASTERN LIBYA HELD BY REBELS RAISING THE OLD FLAG OF THE MONARCHY, THE OPPOSITION SEIZES HOLD OF TOWNS SURROUNDING TRIPOLI IN THE WEST. AS DEMONSTRATIONS ERUPT IN TRIPOLI ITSELF GADDAFI IS REDUCED TO HARANGING LOYALISTS FROM A ROOF-TOP AND TURNING MERCENARIES AND MILITARY UNITS ON THE CROWDS WITH DEADLY FORCE.

IN THE NEWS: Liberated eastern Libya was known from ancient times a Cyrenecia. Cyrenecia has often been the starting point and strong hold of Libyan rulers. In 1921, Idris, Sheikh of the Senusi clan of Cyrenecia in the east, accepted the Emirate of Tripolitania (as western Libya was once known) and became the first to unite Cyrnecia and Tripolitania as modern Libya. However, not wanting to deal with the Italians who then ruled Italy as a colony, he went into exile leaving two brothers in charge of Cyrenecia and Tripolitania respectively. A bitter insurgency was then waged by Cyrenecia against Mussolini's Fascist colonial government. Under british pressure during World War Two, the Italians finally withdrew in 1943. At the end of the war, Cyrenecia and Triplotania were again separate and under the temporary rule of the British. In 1951, Idris was asked to return from exile and resume the role of monarch. He reunited Tripolitania and Cyrencia and brought Libya to full independence. By 1969, his alternate conservatism and rapid modernization had alienated many Libyans when Col. Gaddafi staged his coup d'etat.

IN HISTORY: In what is now Libya, the Arabs conquered the regions of Cyrenecia, Tripolitania and the southern desert region of Fezzan for Islam in the late 7th century. They grew to become Emirates and Cyrenecia and Tripolitania which were taken by the Ottomans in 1551. Despite Ottoman control, the Dey (or Emir) profited from pirate expeditions launched from Tripoli so that Tripolitania was autonomous by the 18th century. As the British and the French began to compete for mercantile and diplomatic control of the eastern Mediterranean in the early 19th century, the British set up trade missions in Tripolitania and made agreements with the Dey, Yusf. In their attempt to gain control, the British eventually forced Yusuf to abdicate in 1832 and set his two sons against one another- with Ali controlling Tripoli and Mohammed controlling the surrounding country.

It was a situation not unlikethe current civil war, with Gaddafi reduced to control of Tripoli and the opposition holding th surrounding country. By 1835, the British had decided Libya wasn't worth the trouble and the Ottomans reasserted full control until they lost Libya to Italy in 1911.

RELEVANT DATES FOR BENGAZI AND THE 2011 LIBYAN UPRISING:

1575 (circa)-Ottomans divide Libya into the regencies of Tripolitania, Tunisia and Algeria.

Tripolitania (Libya), piracy and war with Europe.

-pirates based in Tripoli prey on Christian shipping.

1620- (circa) Janissary military caste of slave soldiers sends out their own appointed Dey who often had more power than the provincial governors appointed by the Sultan.

1650- the entire Mediterranean and its coasts are controlled by the Ottomans, save for Morocco, Spain, France and Italy.

Libya and Britain.

1711- the Janissary Ahmad Karamanli becomes Dey, kills the Ottoman governor of Tripolitania and and persuades the Ottomans to name him governor. Thenceforward, Ottoman rule is only indirect and the post of governor remains in the Karamanli family until 1835.

-the Karamanli Deys of Tripolitania extract heavy tribute from the Tripoli pirates and extend Ottoman rule into the interior.

1795- Yusuf Karamanli becomes Day of Tripoli, draws close to Britain.

1801-1805- war between the US and Tripoli about the amount of tribute US shipping should pay to the Dey for protection from pirates. By 1805 Britain has extablished naval supremacy in the Mediterranean.

-the Karamanli dynasty establishes stable rule having emerged in one piece from the American intervention in Tripoli.

-British Consul in Tripoli, Richard Warrington decides that the presence of the British fleet in Malta
justifies the extension of British fleet over Ysuf Pasha. He arranges for a large British trading fleet to be established in Tripoli. Warrington then forms cllose relations with tribal leaders and places vice-consuls in all the towns of Libya.

1815-1835 England, France, and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies successfully extirpate piracy, vastly reducing the tribute paid to the Dey of Tripolitania. As a result, Yusuf became more dependent on foreign consuls and trading missions.

-to make up for lost revenue, Yusuf Pasha also attempted to seize control of the trans Sahara trade by conquest of the Bornu Emirate. But the British Conusl, Warrington prevents him from doing so by sending British officers to secure control over the Sahara and Sudan under the cover of scholarly exploration.

French Conflict with Britain in Libya.

-France appoints its own consul in Tripoli, Charles Rousseau, to keep an eye on the British and soon Rousseau and Wa\rrington are competeing for control of Yusuf Pasha.

1830- the French fleet forces Yusuf Pasha of Tripolitana to limit the size of his fleet and to sign a non-aggression pact with France. As a way of seizing control, British Conusl Warrngton calls in Yusus's foreign debts- far beyiond his ability to pay. As he tries to exact tribute from the tribes, revolts break out, among them one led by Ouled Suleiman, a close aly of Warrington.

1830- France sends colonists into Algeria.

1831- British-backed Ouled Suleiman controls central Libya and asks for British protection.

1832- Suleiman asks the British to take control of Libya and establish law and order. Britain, with a fleet anchored off Tripoli, gives Yusuf 48 hours to pay his debt. Refused any help by the tribes, he abdicates in favour of his son Ali. Warrington rejects the move and, with tribal backing, brings in another branch of the Karamanlis backing Yusuf's grandson Mohammed- leaving Ali with Tripoli and the surrounding country with Mohammed.

1834- a stalemat develops as a new Liberal government in England declines an expensive colonization project in Libya. The French, taking advantage of Britain relaxing her grip, back the supremacy of Ali.

Ottoman Rule is re-established in Libya.

1835- hereditary dynasty of the Karamanli Deys of Tripoli has ended, ultimately due to Europe'sextirpation of piracy which diminished tribute to the Karamanlis. The British consul having staged a coup e'tat with Mohammed suddenly faces a change of policy at home. In May, the Ottoman Empire, loathe to lose Tipolitana to European Christians, seizes the opportunity and sends a fleet into Tripoli on grounds of a plea for help by Ali. Ali is arrested and Mohammed flees and commits suicide May intervenes quickly to take control.

1835-1911 -direct Ottoman rule is re-established.

1842- Ottomans conquer Libyan province of Fazzan.

-Tripolitania and Cyrencia are stable but politically and economically autonomous from Constantinople.

-the Sanusi brotherhood gains recruits from Cyrenaica, Tripolitania and Fazzan.

Italian Invasion of Tripoli

1911-1943- Italy declares war on Turkey and occupies Tripoli. End of Ottoman rule. Due to Italian abuses, the populaton of Libya drops from 750,000 to 500,000.

1912- Treaty of Ouchy- Italy gives autonomy to Tripoli and northern Libya. However fighting continues.

1914- Italy occupies most of Libya but becomes locked in a long war against the Sanusi and their allies.

Unification of Libya.

1921- Idris, the young Senusi sheikh of Cyrenecia accepts the Emirate of Tripolitana and unifies Libya.

Libyan Independence.
1951- Libya becomes an independent kingdom with a constitution. The Emir of Cyrencia (east, coastal Libya) Muhammad Idris al Sanusi (the Sunusi brotherhood) is proclaimed King Idris I but he is not popular in the western region of Tripolitana. Poor in natural resources, Libya is dependent on the US and Britian for economic aid.

1952- in elections, Libya's government candidates win 44 out of 55 seats because of strength in rural areas, or 80 per cent of the country because tribal leaders advise their people to vote for their traditionalist Sanusi king. The modernizing, pan-Arab National Congress Party cries foul. The NCP, backed by Nasser, launches protests but King Idris exiles their leadership.

King Idris.

1952-1962- King Idris provides Libya with stable rule through consultation with tribes. However, nearly bereft of natural resources, Libya relies on foreign aid from Brtiain and the US.

1953-54- Libya allows the US and Britain to establish bases provided they pay an annual subsidy and train the Libyan military.

Discovery of Oil.

1956- an American prospecter makes the first discovery of oil in Libya.

1959- oil wells developed in Libya
-King Idris leans toward the West and switches to modenrization.
1962- -in Libya, rapid change, centralization of the formerly decentralized state and the vote for women alienates many Muslims.

1963- after a history of conflict between its three regions, Libya changes from a federal state to a unitary state.

The Monarchy in Crisis.
-Libyans turn against King Idris for being to biased toward the West.

1964- -King Idris dissolves Libyan parliament

1964-66- Anglo-Libyan treaty ends and British troops are withdrawn from Libya.

1965- King Idris rigs May elections.1966- under the rule of king Idriss, Libya is making $500 million annually, while the oil revenue increases popular expectations yet fails to provide jobs or an improved standard of living for any but the wealthiest.

Young Libyans, alienated from traditional society, are educated in Egyptian, Syrian and Iraqi Pan Arab Socialism by teachers imported from the Middle East. However the older generation associates socialism, democracy and any sort of modernism with the destructive Italian occupation of 1911-1943 which all but destroyed the country.

Colonel Ghaddafi's Coup D'Etat.
-1969- at least four coups plotted against Libya's King Idriss.

-1969- Sept 1, 1969- Colonel Ghaddafi and the Free Unionist Officers take power in a bloodless coup and rules with the Revolutionary Command Council. The 1951 constitution is ended. Gaddafi appeals sucessfully to anti-Communist, anti-capitalist, pro-Islam Arab nationalism. He embraces international, Islamist causes and supports terror operations in Lebanon, Egypt and Chad.

TIMELINE FOR THE MAGHREB- MOROCCO, TUNISIA, ALGERIA AND LIBYA.
Thanks to BBC for items after 2000.

Phoenicians

1150 BC- north Coast of Morocco is inhabited by Phoenicians.

-Phoenicians rule Libya,

975-715 BC- the Libyans invade and conquer Egypt.

Greeks, Carthaginians

375 BC -Greeks rule coastal Libya

560 BC- Carthage in present-day Tunisia.

192 BC- Libya and Algeria ruled by the Kingdom of Numidia. Carthage reduced to Tunisia.
Morocco ruled by the Kingdom of Mauretania.

Rome

145 BC- Rome rules Carthage in present day Tunisia.

74 BC- Rome rules most of Numidia (Libya)

44 BC-14 AD- resistance against Rome in Mauretania.

67- Rome controls the entire coastal Maghreb from Egypt to the Atlantic.

-Rome rules Algeria as a province of the empire- Berbers pushed back into interior.

Vandals and Byzantines.

400-Vandals rule coastal Maghreb from Libya up to Roman Morocco.

-Vandals rule Algeria

500- Kingdom of the Vandals in Libya, Algeria.

525-565- Justinian takes coastal Libya, Algeria and Tunia for the Byzantine Empire.

-Byzantines rule Libya.

Arabs- The Muslim Invasions.

-647-698- Arabs conquer Libyan Tripolitania, Cyrencia and Dezzan for Islam.

-700s- Muslim conquest of Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco.

-740- revolts in the Maghreb against Umayyad taxation.

Morocco.

-788-964- Idris launches a failed Shia rebellion in Arabia, flees to Morocco. Arab Shia Idrisids founded by Idris I (a descendant of Ali) rule Morocco.

-Idris II of Morocco founds Fez.

-808- Fez, Morocco, an important political and cultural center.

Tunis

-800-909- the Aghlabids in Tunisia gain idependence from the Abbasids. The Aghlabid Emirate in Tripolitania (Libya)

-the Rustamid Imamate in coastal Algeria.

-909- after a coup d’etat, the Shia Fatamids (who claimed descent from Mohammed daughter, Fatima) establish a dynasty in Tunisia.

-the Fatamids go on to conquer all of North Africa.

-1046-1147- The Almoravids

The Almohads of Morocco.

1130-1269- the Almohads of Morocco launch invasions in Spain to stop the Christian resurgence.

-Almohads spread Islam into sub-Saharan Africa.

Europe and the Ottoman Empire.

1434- Western Sahara discovered by Portugal.

1551- Ottomans conquer Libyan provinces of Tripolitania, Cyrencia .

1566- Algiers on Barbary Coast and Tunis controlled by the Habsburgs.

1574- Ottomans conquer Tunisia.

-Ottomans divide Libya into the regencies of Tripolitania, Tunisia and Algeria.

Tripolitania, piracy and war with Europe.

-pirates based in Tripoli prey on Christian shipping.

1620- (circa) Janissary military caste of slave soldiers sends out their own appointed Dey who often had more power than the provincial governors appointed by the Sultan.

1650- the entire Mediterranean and its coasts are controlled by the Ottomans, save for Morocco, Spain, France and Italy.

Libya and Britain.

1711- the Janissary Ahmad Karamanli becomes Dey, kills the Ottoman governor of Tripolitania and and persuades the Ottomans to name him governor. Thenceforward, Ottoman rule is only indirect and the post of governor remains in the Karamanli family until 1835.

-the Karamanli Deys of Tripolitania extract heavy tribute from the Tripoli pirates and extend Ottoman rule into the interior.

1795- Yusuf Karamanli becomes Day of Tripoli, draws close to Britain.

1801-1805- war between the US and Tripoli about the amount of tribute US shipping should pay to the Dey for protection from pirates. By 1805 Britain has extablished naval supremacy in the Mediterranean.

-the Karamanli dynasty establishes stable rule having emerged in one piece from the American intervention in Tripoli.

-British Consul in Tripoli, Richard Warrington decides that the presence of the British fleet in Malta
justifies the extension of British fleet over Ysuf Pasha. He arranges for a large British trading fleet to be established in Tripoli. Warrington then forms cllose relations with tribal leaders and places vice-consuls in all the towns of Libya.

1815-1835 England, France, and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies successfully extirpate piracy, vastly reducing the tribute paid to the Dey of Tripolitania. As a result, Yusuf became more dependent on foreign consuls and trading missions.

-to make up for lost revenue, Yusuf Pasha also attempted to seize control of the trans Sahara trade by conquest of the Bornu Emirate. But the British Conusl, Warrington prevents him from doing so by sending British officers to secure control over the Sahara and Sudan under the cover of scholarly exploration.

French Conflict with Britain in Libya.

-France appoints its own consul in Tripoli, Charles Rousseau, to keep an eye on the British and soon Rousseau and Wa\rrington are competeing for control of Yusuf Pasha.

1830- the French fleet forces Yusuf Pasha of Tripolitana to limit the size of his fleet and to sign a non-aggression pact with France. As a way of seizing control, British Conusl Warrngton calls in Yusus's foreign debts- far beyiond his ability to pay. As he tries to exact tribute from the tribes, revolts break out, among them one led by Ouled Suleiman, a close aly of Warrington.

1830- France sends colonists into Algeria.

1831- British-backed Ouled Suleiman controls central Libya and asks for British protection.

1832- Suleiman asks the British to take control of Libya and establish law and order. Britain, with a fleet anchored off Tripoli, gives Yusuf 48 hours to pay his debt. Refused any help by the tribes, he abdicates in favour of his son Ali. Warrington rejects the move and, with tribal backing, brings in another branch of the Karamanlis backing Yusuf's grandson Mohammed- leaving Ali with Tripoli and the surrounding country with Mohammed.

1834- a stalemat develops as a new Liberal government in England declines an expensive colonization project in Libya. The French, taking advantage of Britain relaxing her grip, back the supremacy of Ali.

Ottoman Rule is re-established in Libya.

1835- hereditary dynasty of the Karamanli Deys of Tripoli has ended, ultimately due to Europe'sextirpation of piracy which diminished tribute to the Karamanlis. The British consul having staged a coup e'tat with Mohammed suddenly faces a change of policy at home. In May, the Ottoman Empire, loathe to lose Tipolitana to European Christians, seizes the opportunity and sends a fleet into Tripoli on grounds of a plea for help by Ali. Ali is arrested and Mohammed flees and commits suicide May intervenes quickly to take control.

1835-1911 -direct Ottoman rule is re-established.

1842- Ottomans conquer Libyan province of Fazzan.

-Tripolitania and Cyrencia are stable but politically and economically autonomous from Constantinople.

-the Sanusi brotherhood gains recruits from Cyrenaica, Tripolitania and Fazzan.

French rule of Northwest Africa.

1848- Algeria is annexed to France and given a French administrative structure, with departments- in Oran, Constantine and Algiers.

1870- most of Algeria is under French military control.

1881- Morocco becomes a French protectorate.

1881- Algeria formally becomes part of France.

1883- Tunisia, due to its strategic location at the center of the Mediterranean, becomes a French protectorate.

1884- the Western Sahara claimed as a protectorate by Spain.

Entente Cordiale

1904- Entente Cordiale- Morocco falls under French influence.

1902- France fully controls Algeria.

Italian Invasion of Tripoli

1911-1943- Italy declares war on Turkey and occupies Tripoli. End of Ottoman rule. Due to Italian abuses, the populaton of Libya drops from 750,000 to 500,000.

1912- treaty of Ouchy- Italy gives autonomy to Tripoli and northern Libya. However fighting continues.

European Competition for Morocco.

-France intervenes in Morocco to put down a rebellion. Germany competes with France for influence in Morocco.

1912- most of Morocco is a French protectorate. The Treaty of Fez establishes French Morocco with a capital at Rabat and Spanish Morocco in the northern Rif area with a capital at Tetouan.

1914- Italy occupies most of Libya but becomes locked in a long war against the Sanusi and their allies.

1919- Algerians are without civil rights, save for a small elite given rights in return for renouncing their Islamic faith and customs. The French take the best land for agriculture, with Algerian peasants working the land for low wages.

-the French-educated Tunisian elite demand more political participation in their own affairs.

Resistance in Morocco.

1920-34 –rebel Abd al Krim leads resistance against Spanish, then French Morocco.

1921- Libya: Idris, the young Senussi sheikh of Cyrenecia accepts the Emirate of Tripolitana and unifies Libya.

1923- International Zone created in Tangiers, Morocco.

Italy Creates Libya.

1934- Italy combines Tripolitania and Cyrenaica, naming the region Libya. Fazzan is part of Tripolitania.

-Italian governor of Libya, Italo Balbo builds schools, hospitals and government buildings in Libya.

Resistance in Tunisia.

1934- the Tunisian socialist Neo-Destour party led by Habib Bourguiba becomes the focus of opposition to French colonial rule, demanding an incremental process of liberation.

1930s- -the nationalist Istiqlas movement rises in Moroccan cities. But French administrator Marshal Lyautey keeps the rebel movement in check.

-Italy sends 40,000 colonists to the plateau region of Libya.

World War II- German-Allied struggle for Libya.

1939- Libya becomes an Italian province.

1940-45- British and French fight Germans for control of Libya. Alergia is ruled by the Vichy government.

1940- Moroccan rebels encouraged by France’s defeat by Nazi Germany

-1942- birth of Muammar Ghaddafi to a tribe in the central Sirtic Desert.

1943- Libya placed under British-French military rule.

June 3- DeGaulle sets up the Committee of National Liberation on Algiers

1943 -French and Anglo-American forces liberate Tunisia from German occupation.

Colonialism Reasserts Itself.

-French colonists in Tunisia insist on reasserting control.

1944- in Morocco the Istiqlas movement is made official.

1947- Italy concedes all claims to Libya. Algerian nationalists are promised full political rights. But France’s fourth republic is too weak to force conservative Algerian colonists to live up to the commitment. Moreover, the military commanders also side with the colonists.

Libyan Indepedence

1951- Libya becomes an independent kingdom with a constitution. The Emir of Cyrencia (east, coastal Libya) Muhammad Idris al Sanusi (the Sunusi brotherhood) is proclaimed King Idris I but he is not popular in Tripolitana. Poor in natural resources, Libya is dependent on the US and Britian for economic aid.

1952- in elections, Libya's government candidates win 44 out of 55 seats because of strength in rural areas, or 80 per cent of the country because tribal leaders advise their people to vote for their traditionalist Sanusi king. The pan-Arab National Congress Party cries foul. The NCP, backed by Nasser, launches protests but King Idris exiles their leadership.

1952-1962- King Idris provides Libya with stable rule through consultation with tribes. However, nearly bereft of natural resources, Libya relies on foreign aid from Brtiain and the US.

Renewed Anti-Colonial Resistance

1953- the Moroccan Sultan Ibn Yusuf is deported by France to Madagascar because of his alleged support of the Isliqlas nationalism movement.

1953-54- Libya allows the US and Britain to establish bases provided they pay an annual subsidy and train the Libyan military.

The Franco-Algerian War.

1954-62- in response to brutal repression, the guerilla forces of the Algerian FLN wage war against French occupation. The country is destroyed; the colonists take most of their wealth with them to France.

-Boumerdas and Tizi Ouzou, in the Berber region of Kabylia in eastern Algeria is a center of resistance.

-under Ben Bella- the farms of emigrated Algerian colonists are nationalized and ruled through peasant autonomy.

Tunisian Autonomy.

1954- after growing unrest, France grants autonomy to Tunisia.

1955- Istiqlas nationalists start a guerrilla war in Morocco.

Moroccan Independence.

1956- Feb 18- France grants Morocco independence. Sultan Ibn Yusuf returns and is made King Muhammad V. Muhammad gets broad popular backing in wielding absolute power to develop industry and exploit mineral resources.

-after imprisoning Tunsian Habib Bourguiba, the French government under Mendes France decides he is a moderate compared to other Arab leaders and allows him to run for president.

1956- an American prospecter makes the first discovery of oil in Libya.

Tunisian Independence.

1956- Tunisia becomes independent from France. The monarchy is abolished. Habib Bourguiba becomes Prime Minister.

1956- Morocco becomes independent from French and Spanish protectorates.

1957- Morocco occupies the Western Sahara.

1957- Tunisia becomes a republic as Habib Bourguiba is elected president.

1959- oil wells developed in Libya.

1961- Hassan II succeeds to the throne of Morocco. He is also prime minister.

Algerian Independence.

1962- Algeria gains independence from France. Ahmed Ben Bella is the first president of the republic.

-in Libya, rapid modernization, centralization of the formerly decentralized state and the vote for women alienates many Muslims.

1962- Bouguiba succeeds in getting the French to withdraw their military bases from Tunisia.

1963- after a history of conflict between its three regions, Libya changes from a federal state to a unitary state.

-Libyans turn against King Idris for being to biased toward the West.

1964- -King Idris dissolves Libyan parliament

1964-66- Anglo-Libyan treaty ends and British troops are withdrawn from Libya.

1965- King Idris rigs May elections.

Algeria's Boumedienne

1965- the Algerian government of Ben Bella is overthrown in a coup d’etat by Houari Boumedienne who maintains a dictatorship until 1974.

-under Boumedienne, Algerian peasant self-government is abandoned because of low productivity. Boumedienne shifts his socialist economic policy to nationalization and industrialization. Islamic and Arabic religious and cultural identity is promoted. Nevertheless Algeria remains economically dependent on France, where many Algerians are working.

Moroccan Dictatorship

1965- after riots in Casablanca, Hassan II of Morocco, declares a royal dictatorship.

Libya and Ghaddafi.

1966- under the rule of king Idriss, Libya is making $500 million annually, while the oil revenue increases popular expectations yet fails to provide jobs or an improved standard of living for any but the wealthiest.

Young Libyans, alienated from traditional society, are educated in Egyptian, Syrian and Iraqi Pan Arab Socialism by teachers imported from the Middle East. However the older generation associates socialism, democracy and any sort of modernism with the destructive Italian occupation of 1911-1943 which all but destroyed the country.
-1969- at least four coups plotted against Libya's King Idriss.
1969- Spet 1, 1969- Colonel Ghaddafi and the Free Unionist Officers take power in a bloodless coup and rule with the Revolutionary Command Council. The 1951 constitution is ended. Gaddafi appeals sucessfully to anti-Communist, anti-capitalist, pro-Islam Arab nationalism. He embraces international, Islamist causes and supports terror operations in Lebanon, Egypt and Chad.

-Ghaddafi concentrates power in the Revolitionary Command Council (RCC) composed of the 12 Free Unionist Officers closest to Ghaddafi- all are under 30. Alcohol is banned, night clubs closed and alll Roman script in public places replaced with Arabic. All Jews and the remaining 30,000 Italians are expelled from the country.

-after oil companies refuse to give Libya a controlling 51% share but fail to bribe Libyan negotiators or agree on a united front, Ghaddafi nationalizes foreign-owned industries; provides free health care, minimum wage, the right to work and an education system. Grass roots local committees provide an illusion of populist democracy. He is socialist but anti-communist.

-Ghadaffi is oriented toward the Middle East rather than North Africa and forms close ties with Egypt and Syria.

1969-1970- Ghaddafi resists military coups launched against him.

-British and US bases are closed and Britain and the US withdraw all personnel and material.
-Libya and Algeria join forces to confront the big oil companies.

1970-72- Ghaddafi is prime minister of Libya.

Hassan II's Authoritarianism in Morocco.

1970- Hassan II of Morocco reforms the constitution but still hangs on to his supreme religious and political authority.

1971-1972- continued poverty and royal absolutism lead to unsuccessful attempted coups against Morocco’s Hassan II.

1970s- foreign military stations closed down in Libya. Ghaddafi promotes Islam andArab unity.

-Ghadaffi supports dictator Idi Amin of Uganda as a fellow Muslim.

1973- terrorist attacks against Moroccan government.

Ghaddafi's Arab Nationalism.

1973- 15 August- Ghadaffi, disgusted with corruption and luxury arising from Libyan oil wealth, launches the Libyan Zwara “cultural revolution” to entrench socialist and Muslim values. Islamic law is imposed. Ba'ath, Communist and all foreign parties are banned. Populace is armed to protect the Revolution. A purge is carried out of the old ruling elite while the bureaucracy is "returned to the people."

Oct- Libya contributes troops and supplies to the Arab cause in the Yom Kippur war against Israel.

1974- with all opposition having been outlawed, Tunsian President Habib Bourguiba declared president for life. However, state control over education and the economy brings stability and increased rights for women.

- May 7- Libya's Gadaffi calls for the creation of Popular Committes to foment the revolution in every community.

-May 14- Gadaffi announces his Third Universal Theory- a traditional Islamic, Libyan Bedouin middle way between Capitalism and Communism advocating communal values for a government modelled on the age-old autonomous Bedouin council. He is the first and only leader in the Maghreb to appeal to indigenous traditions.

1974- Algerian President Boumedienne holds elections. He is declared president by a new constitution.

1975- the former Spanish Sahara comes under joint control of Morocco, Mauritania and Spain. The southern area, Tiris al Gharbia, is shared by Mauritania and Morocco.

-the Algerian economy is increasingly dependent on oil.

-Ghadaffi survives another attempted coup.

1976- January- 187 Popular Committees established in Libya. Each sends three members to attend the First General Congress of the Socialist ppular Libyan Arab Jamahiriya ("rule by the masses"). Property sharing is promoted, multiple ownership of property is ooutlawed. Profit-sharing replaces wages.Major dealerships, retail and grocery operations are all nationalized. The only weakness is the RCC's control of alll vital institutions from oil to security and the military- contrary to popular soverignty. The RCC meanwhile has shrunk to Ghaddafi, Colonel Jalloud, Colonel Mustafa Kharroubi, Colonel Khweldi Homei, and military chi8ef, Colonel Abu Bakr Younis.

Polisario Conflict with Morocco over Western Sahara.

1976- the Spanish Sahara is re-named the Western Sahara. The Algeria-based Polisario Front sets up a government in exile. The Polisario calls the disputed region The Saharan Arab Democratic Republic.

-Tunisian government’s refusal to legalize opposition parties causes political unrest and provokes the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in the 1970s and 1980s.

1976-80- Hassan II deploys a large army to block Polisaro forces from infiltrating Morocco’s western border. Despite military backing from the U.S., he is unable to contol the Western Sahara.

1979- The Polisario, an Algerian-backed liberation front in the Western Sahara forces Mauretania to withdraw. Morocco becomes responsible for the Spanish Sahara despite an independence movement there which is not recognized by Morocco.

1979- Algerian President Chadi Benjedid succeeds Boumedienne.

1980- Ghaddafi launches a campaign of assassination against Libyan dissidents in Europe.

1981- a drop in the price of oil increases the burden of Algeria’s foreign debt. Boumedienne’s successor Chadli is forced to adopt market-oriented economic reforms and austerity measures.

1982- in response to Libyan support for international terrorism, the US bans Libyan oil imports.

Fundamentalism Emerges in Tunisia.

1983-84- Islamic Fundamentalists riot against Tunisian president Bourguiba. His influence is reduced.

1984- urban unrest prompts Hassan II of Morocco to appoint a coalition government of national unity under a civilian prime minister.

-the war in the Western Sahara puts increasing strain on the Moroccan economy throughout the 1980s.

1984- UK accuses Libya of the murder of a police officer in London and severs relations.

-Ghaddafi invades northern Chad for its alleged uranium reserves. But his offensive fails.

1986- Libyan terrorists accused in the bombing of a US forces night club in Germany. President Reagan orders the bombing of Benghazi and Tripoli in an attempt to kill Gaddafi.

Fundamentalism in Tunisia.

1987- due to political unrest, Tunisian president Bourguiba, on grounds of senility, is deposed by his prime minister, Ben Ali. Ben Ali attempts to bring in multi-party politics. But political liberalization is slowed down by resistance from Islamic fundamentalists.

1988- reforms made in the Tunisian constitution to allow opposition parties some minimal representation in the legislature.

1988- The UN decides that the Sahrawi people of Western Sahara should hold a referendum on independence under the Polisario or rule by Morocco.

1988- a Pan Am jet, later found to be rigged with explosives by Libyan agents, explodes and comes down over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing all aboard.

Fundamentalism in Algeria.

-in Algeria the official policy of economic and cultural nationalism fails as Chadli’s austerity measures provoke an Islamic fundamentalist backlash.

1989- in Algeria, Chadli changes the constitution to allow for political parties including the Islamist Islamic Salvation Front- despite their vow to destroy the existing order.

1989- two Libyan fighter jets shot down by warplanes from US aircraft carrier off the North African coast.

-internal and external pressures cause Ghaddafi to withdraw from Chad, allow private enterprise, withdraw support from terror groups and hand over evidence to Britain that he gave support to the IRA.

-Ghaddafi continues building chemical weapons.

The Maghreb Union

1989- the Maghreb Union is founded in Marrakesh, Morocco- with Hassan II, Chadli of Ageria, Zine of Tunisia, Gaddafi of Libya and Sidi Ahmed of Mauritania.

1990- first Maghreb Union summit in Tunis.

-second Maghredb Union Summit in Algiers calls for the princiuple of a customs union.

1990- December- a general strike in Morocco.

-Ghaddafi condemns Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait.

Crackdown on Islamists in Libya.

- Ghaddafi’s increasing moderation causes him to imprison 2,000 Islamist radicals.

1991- UN-brokered ceasefire between the Polisario and Morocco.

Islamists Garner Most Votes in Algerian Eelections.

1991- in Algerian elections, the Islamic Salvation front wins almost half the seats in parliament desppite only 25% of the popular vote and Chadli resigns, giving way to a 5-member transitional state council.

Islamic Insurgency in Algeria.

-an Algerian Islamic insurgency started in 1992 after authorities cancelled elections an Islamist party was poised to win.

1992- February-9- Algeria’s State Council bans the Islamic Salvation Front.

-1992-1999- Algerian civil war between Islamists and the government takes 100,000 lives.

1992- UN imposes sanctions against Libya after it refuses to extradite two Libyans accused in the bombing which brought down a Pan AM passenger plane over Lockerbie, Scotland.

1992- clashes in Algeria between government forces and guerillas of the Islamic Salvation Front. The civil war will last throughout most of the 1990s.

-Libya suffers from UN sanctions, despite its oil wealth.

1994- Tunisian president Ben Ali is re-elected; further constitutional reforms are brought in. However the threat from Islamic fundamentalists is handled by imprisoning them.
Ben Ali promotes Tunisian cultural nationalism against continued French influence.

1995- Morocco- a referendum brings about the formation of a bicameral legislature.

Founding of GSPC.

1998- the G.S.P.C. is created as an offshoot of the Armed Islamic Group (GIA), which along with other Islamist guerrilla forces fought a brutal decade-long civil war after the Algerian military canceled elections in early 1992 because an Islamist party was poised to win. The group is founded by Hassan Hattab, a former Armed Islamic Group (GIA) regional commander after breaking with the GIA in in protest over the GIA's slaughter of civilians.

1999- April 5- in a compromise with Ghaddafi, the Lockerbie suspects are handed over under Scottish law for trial at the international criminal tribunal at the Hague. UN sanctions against Libya are lifted.

End of Civil War in Algeria.

1999- Abdul Aziz Bouteflika is elected president despite withdrawal of all other candidates in protest of unfair elections; with approval by referendum, he declares an amnesty with the Islamic Salvation Front and promotes reconciliation, bringing an end to the civil conflict in Algeria.

-many former Algerian GIA fighters lay down their arms, but a few remain active, including members of the GSPC.

1999- Hassan II of Morocco dies and is succeeded by Mohammed VI.

-Mohammed VI brings about reform and reconciliation and allows opposition leaders to return to Morocco. He dismisses Driss Basri, Hassan’s Minister for Domestic Affairs.

2000- Islamist attacks continue in Algeria, despite amnesty.

2000- African immigrant workers killed by Libyan mobs

2001- Lockerbie trial in the Netherlands results in one conviction.

-various countries including the US begin to do business with Libya again. Thus Libya avoided being a target in the War on Terror.

-Morocco: Mohammed IV’s reforms in such matters as women’s rights, prompt a backlash from Islamic fundamentalists.

2001-May- Algerian Berbers in Kabylie are killed by police while protesting police brutality. Later in the year the government gives official status to the Berber language.
The main Berber party withdraws from the government in protest.

2002- US and Libya hold reconciliation talks.

Beginning of post- 9-11 Sucide Attacks

2003- May 16- 5 suicide blasts in Casablanca hitting Jewish and Spanish targets.

June- Abassi, Madani leader of Algeria’s Islamic Salvation Front freed from prison.

-Libya elected to chair the UN Human Rights Commission.

August- Libya takes responsibility for the Lockerbie bombing and compensates families of the victims, promises to halt programs for weapons of mass destruction.

GSPC mass kidnapping in Algeria.

2003- a G.S.P.C. leader in southern Algeria kidnaps 32 European tourists, some of whom are released for a ransom of 5 million euros (about $6.5 million at current exchange rates), paid by Germany. Officials say the leader, Amari Saifi, bought weapons and recruited fighters before the United States military helped corner and catch him in 2004. He is now serving a life sentence in Algeria.

Moroccan Connection to Madrid Train Bombing.

2004- March 11- suicide bombing of train in Madrid kills 191, injures over 1,000. Lengthy investigation concludes that cells did not come from any well known Islamist group but from Morrocaan hash-smuggling rings previously connected with an Al Qaeda group which became defunct.

-April- Algerian President Boutelika re-elected in a landslide.

June- Abdelmalik Droukdel announces his arrival with a truck bomb at the Algeria’s most important electrical production facility and focuses on associating the GSPC with Al Qaeda. . “The Algerian military says he cut his teeth in the 1990s as a member of the Armed Islamic Group’s feared Ahoual or “horror” company, blamed for some of the most gruesome massacres of Algeria’s civil war.” NYT

-GSPC (al-Qaeda-linked Salafist Group for Call and Combat) declares war on all foreign nationals and interests in Algeria.

- British P.M. Tony Blair visits Libya.

-5 Bulgarian nurses imprisoned in Libya for infecting chidren with HIV.

GSPCmounts attacks in Mauretania.

2005- June – an “attack against a military barrack in Mauritania, executed by Khaled Abul Abbas, chief of the GSPC in the Sahara came as part of this tendency, according to well informed sources. Al-Qaeda was interminably giving guidelines to the Salafist Group since 9/11 attacks.” (ALGERIA EVENTS)

-June-- “Indications that a cross-border alliance was under way came…when the G.S.P.C. attacked a military outpost in Mauritania, killing 15 soldiers. The attackers fled into Mali, according to the United States military.” NYT

End of GIA.

-Nourredine Boudiafi, head of Algeria’s Armed Islamc Group, is arrested, ending the groups effective existence.

September 2005- “the Center for Strategic and International Studies estimated that 600 Algerians were fighting as foreign jihadists in Iraq. At the time, this was believed to be 20 percent of the total strength of the foreign insurgents in Iraq -- the largest of any single group.” -STRATFOR

-Algerian government promises Berbers language rights and capital invesment.

2005- Libya opened to international oil exploration and investment.

GSPC links up, merges with Al Qaeda.

Dec 8- the extremist Algerian Salafist Group for Call and Combat (GSPC) plans to set up an Al-Qaeda branch in the Maghreb countries as a base for attacks to be launched on the countries that support US administration.

2006- January- Al Qaeda in the Maghreb is officially formed from the Algerian GSPC, the Moroccan GICM (responsible for the Casablanca and Madrid bombings in 2003 and 2004 respectively), and other Tunisian elements.

2006- February- Libyans riot against Danish newspaper cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.

Al Qaeda in the Maghreb.

Sept 11- Ayman Zawahiri of Al Qaeda announces the formation of Al Qaeda in the Maghreb.

2006- 6 month Algerian amnesty for Islamists.

2006- May- US begins restoring full diplomatic relations with Libya.

-Algeria, recovering economically, commits itself to paying back its $8 billion national debt.

-September, Rabah Kebir, leader of the Islamic Salvation front, returns to Algeria and urges Islamist militants to disarm.

Dec 10- Algeria- bus bombed carrying foreign oil workers.

2006-2007- Libya’s Gaddafi joins Egypt and Sudan in several attempts at a peace settlement in Darfur.

December- 5 Bulgarian nurses and Palestinian doctor accused of inflecting children with HIV sentenced to life imprisonment.

Dec 2006 to January 2007- (Dec. 23, Jan 3) Algerian Salafist groups engage Tunisian police and army units with 14 terrorists and some police killed.

-Libya cuts the government labour force and moves to stimulate private enterprise.

Al Qaeda in the Sahel.

February- news reports point to Al Qaeda training camps in the Sahel from Senegal to Ethiopia with plans to attack targets in Europe.

Feb 13- GSPC claims responsibility for car bombings in Boumerdas and Tizi Ouzou, on the Berber region of Kabylia in eastern Algeria. (This was a center of resistance during the Algerian war).

-Feb 16 - in the mountain retion of Qashra near the town of Skikda, Alergian police kill 26 and arrest 35 militants in response to the Feb 13 car bombings.

Al Qaeda in the Maghreb present in Morocco.

Feb 20- Moroccan police search for Hmam Bilal et Bel Hachmi and Mohamed Rida who are accused of having ties with groups including the Algeria-based al Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb,

March 4- Algeria- bus carrying Algerian and Russian gas-line workers bombed- killing 3 Algerians and a Russian.

March 11- suicide bombing in Casablanca internet cafe.

April 10- three suicide blasts kill and wound police in raid on Casablanca safe house.

April 11- Algiers- bombings of the police station and prime minister’s office claim 17 lives. Claimed by Al Qaeda.

April 14- two suicide bombings on US diplomatic offices in Casablanca.

June 11- suicide truck bomb kills soldiers at military barracks near Algiers. GSPC claims responsibility.

July- the Bulgarian nurses and the doctor have death sentences in Libya commuted to life. Under a deal with the European Union, they are all repatriated.

Sept 6- suicide blast kills twenty prior to vistit of President Boutefilka near Algiers.

Sept 8- GSPC claims responsibility for bombing of military barracks, killing 37 at Dellys, Algeria.

Oct 7- Zareg Zoheir, mastermind of GSPC suicide bombings killed by Algerian police.

Dec 11- 67 killed in suicide blasts at Constitutional Court and UN offices in Algiers.

Dec 25- French tourists killed by gunman in Mauretania.

2008- Jan 2- suicide attack near police station in Algiers.

January - Libya takes one-month of the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council in a move toward respectability after years as a pariah of the West.

Feb 1- gun attack on Israeli embassy in Nouakshott, Mauretania.

March- heavy fighting in eastern Algeria between GSPC and Algerian army.

April- Spanish police arrest 2 Moroccans in 2003 Casablanca bombings.

June 6- roadside bomb kills 6 soldiers in Algeria.

June 8- double suicide blast in Algerian train station.

July 14- leader of GCPC in Algeria killed in police raid.

2008 July 18, Tunisia- 2 officials and three others were convicted of terrorist activities conspiring to overthrow the government.

Aug 19- Les Issers, Algeria- 43 killed in suicide bombing at police academy.

August - Libya and US sign agreement committing both to compensation of victims in bomb attacks on the other's citizens.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi apologises to Libya for damage inflicted by Italy during the colonial era and signs a five billion dollar investment deal by way of compensation.

Aug 20- double car-bomb attack on Bouira, Algeria, kills workers from a Canadian eater treatment project.

2008 Aug 23, A Tunisian court convicts 13 Islamic militants for planning to carry out attacks in Tunisia. 6 more ae convicted on Aug 26 for setting up a guerilla training base in Tunisia's Kef region for sending fighters to Iraq.

September, 2008 - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice makes the highest-level American visit to Libya since 1953. Ms Rice annojunce a new phase of relations between the US and Libya.

November - US Lockerbie victims' group anniunce full payment of compensation from Libya. Restoration of diplomatic relations posisble with United States.

Nov- three Tunisians prosecuted in Milan for their part in an Italy-based European terror network.

2009- Feburary- Tuinisia- a German who attacked Djerba synagogue in 2002 is sentenced by a French court to 18 yerars.

February - Gaddafi elected chairman of the African Union at meetiung of leaders in Ethiopia. He speaks of a "United States of Africa" even embracing the Caribbean.

June - Gaddafi pays his first state visit to Italy, Libya's former colonial ruler and now its main trading partner.

July- Tunisia- nine men, including two airforce officers, charged with plotting to kill US troops during joint mmilitary exercise.

August - Scotland frees jailed Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi on compassionate grounds and returns him to Libya. His release and return to a hero's welcome sturs up controversy.

September - Libyan celebrations mark 40 years since Colonel Muammar Gaddafi seizure of power.

Oct- Tunisia- President Ben Ali elected to a fifth term in office. Warns of legal consequences if the vote is questioned.

Nov- Tunisia- a journalist is jailed for assualt. Taoufik Ben Brik had written critically of the president. Human rights groups say the charge is politically motivated..

December - Diplomatic row between Switzerland and European Union after Gaddafi's son is held in Switzerland on charges of mistreating domestic workers.

2010- January - Russia agrees to sell weapons to Libya in a deal worth $1.8bn in fighter jets, tanks and air defence systems.

June - UN refugee agency UNHCR expelled from Libya.

July - US senators demand inquiry into suspicions that oil giant BP lobbied for release of Libya's Lockerbie bomber.

BP confirms plans to drill soon off Libyan coast.

- July- Tunisia- Fahem Boukadous's appeal upholds his jail sentence for coverage of violent protests.

October - European Union signs an agreement with Libya to slow illegal migration.

November - Group of journalists arrested in apparent power struggle within ruling elite. Gaddafi later orders them freed.

December - WikiLeaks releases US diplmatic cable suggesting that Gaddafi was prepared to cut trade with Britain if Lockerbie bomber died in jail.

Dec- Tunisia- protests against lack of political freedom and against unemployment become nation wide.

Jan- 2011- Tunisia- demonstrators say police killed at least 50 protesters as demonstrations continue. Government llays the blame on Islamist and left-wing "extremists," reducing the number to 21 killed. Authorities close educational institutions and bring out troop in Tunis to contain demonstrations while promising economic and social reforms. President Ben Ali fires interior minister Rafik Belhaj Kacem, has most of the protestors released and sets up a special committee to investigate corruption.

-Ben Ali flees country ahead of massive protrests.

-Pime Minister Mohammed Ghanoucchi annunces a national unity government, not fully satisfying protestors.

-Ghanouchhi briefly occupies the presidency before a constitutional deciomn kis made for lower house leader Fouad Mebazza to become interim president.

Jan 22- Algeria- sparked by the revolt on Tunisia along with rising prices and unemployment, demonstrators marching on Algiers where met police who opened fire, killing over a dozen.

Jan 26- Morocco- a fourth Moroccan sets himself on fire, in a series of suicide attempts inspired by the self-immolation that set Tunisia's revolution in motion.

February - Arrest of human rights campaigner sparks off violent protests in east Libyan city of Benghazi.

-the east Libya city of Bengazi resists government violence and falls to the protesters.

-Libya's Bengazi protest spreads to Tripoli as part of the military turns against Ghadaffi and Ghadaffi uses tanks, planes and mercenaries against protesters.

Ghaddafi losing Libya

2011-02-24T19:20:00.000-08:00

HISTORY IN THE NEWS:

DEDICATED TO THE ORIGINS OF CONTEMPORARY EVENTS AROUND THE WORLD.

(further instalments in progress)

MORE LIBYAN HISTORY: RELEVANT DATES FOR BENGAZI AND THE 2011 LIBYAN UPRISING:

1575 (circa)-Ottomans divide Libya into the regencies of Tripolitania, Tunisia and Algeria.

Tripolitania (Libya), piracy and war with Europe.

-pirates based in Tripoli prey on Christian shipping.

1620- (circa) Janissary military caste of slave soldiers sends out their own appointed Dey who often had more power than the provincial governors appointed by the Sultan.

1650- the entire Mediterranean and its coasts are controlled by the Ottomans, save for Morocco, Spain, France and Italy.

Libya and Britain.

1711- the Janissary Ahmad Karamanli becomes Dey, kills the Ottoman governor of Tripolitania and and persuades the Ottomans to name him governor. Thenceforward, Ottoman rule is only indirect and the post of governor remains in the Karamanli family until 1835.

-the Karamanli Deys of Tripolitania extract heavy tribute from the Tripoli pirates and extend Ottoman rule into the interior.

1795- Yusuf Karamanli becomes Day of Tripoli, draws close to Britain.

1801-1805- war between the US and Tripoli about the amount of tribute US shipping should pay to the Dey for protection from pirates. By 1805 Britain has extablished naval supremacy in the Mediterranean.

-the Karamanli dynasty establishes stable rule having emerged in one piece from the American intervention in Tripoli.

-British Consul in Tripoli, Richard Warrington decides that the presence of the British fleet in Malta
justifies the extension of British fleet over Ysuf Pasha. He arranges for a large British trading fleet to be established in Tripoli. Warrington then forms cllose relations with tribal leaders and places vice-consuls in all the towns of Libya.

1815-1835 England, France, and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies successfully extirpate piracy, vastly reducing the tribute paid to the Dey of Tripolitania. As a result, Yusuf became more dependent on foreign consuls and trading missions.

-to make up for lost revenue, Yusuf Pasha also attempted to seize control of the trans Sahara trade by conquest of the Bornu Emirate. But the British Conusl, Warrington prevents him from doing so by sending British officers to secure control over the Sahara and Sudan under the cover of scholarly exploration.

French Conflict with Britain in Libya.

-France appoints its own consul in Tripoli, Charles Rousseau, to keep an eye on the British and soon Rousseau and Wa\rrington are competeing for control of Yusuf Pasha.

1830- the French fleet forces Yusuf Pasha of Tripolitana to limit the size of his fleet and to sign a non-aggression pact with France. As a way of seizing control, British Conusl Warrngton calls in Yusus's foreign debts- far beyiond his ability to pay. As he tries to exact tribute from the tribes, revolts break out, among them one led by Ouled Suleiman, a close aly of Warrington.

1830- France sends colonists into Algeria.

1831- British-backed Ouled Suleiman controls central Libya and asks for British protection.

1832- Suleiman asks the British to take control of Libya and establish law and order. Britain, with a fleet anchored off Tripoli, gives Yusuf 48 hours to pay his debt. Refused any help by the tribes, he abdicates in favour of his son Ali. Warrington rejects the move and, with tribal backing, brings in another branch of the Karamanlis backing Yusuf's grandson Mohammed- leaving Ali with Tripoli and the surrounding country with Mohammed.

1834- a stalemat develops as a new Liberal government in England declines an expensive colonization project in Libya. The French, taking advantage of Britain relaxing her grip, back the supremacy of Ali.

Ottoman Rule is re-established in Libya.

1835- hereditary dynasty of the Karamanli Deys of Tripoli has ended, ultimately due to Europe'sextirpation of piracy which diminished tribute to the Karamanlis. The British consul having staged a coup e'tat with Mohammed suddenly faces a change of policy at home. In May, the Ottoman Empire, loathe to lose Tipolitana to European Christians, seizes the opportunity and sends a fleet into Tripoli on grounds of a plea for help by Ali. Ali is arrested and Mohammed flees and commits suicide May intervenes quickly to take control.

1835-1911 -direct Ottoman rule is re-established.

1842- Ottomans conquer Libyan province of Fazzan.

-Tripolitania and Cyrencia are stable but politically and economically autonomous from Constantinople.

-the Sanusi brotherhood gains recruits from Cyrenaica, Tripolitania and Fazzan.

Italian Invasion of Tripoli

1911-1943- Italy declares war on Turkey and occupies Tripoli. End of Ottoman rule. Due to Italian abuses, the populaton of Libya drops from 750,000 to 500,000.

1912- Treaty of Ouchy- Italy gives autonomy to Tripoli and northern Libya. However fighting continues.

1914- Italy occupies most of Libya but becomes locked in a long war against the Sanusi and their allies.

Unification of Libya.

1921- Idris, the young Senusi sheikh of Cyrenecia accepts the Emirate of Tripolitana and unifies Libya.
1911-1943- Italy declares war on Turkey and occupies Tripoli. End of Ottoman rule. Due to Italian abuses, the populaton of Libya drops from 750,000 to 500,000.

Libyan Independence.
1951- Libya becomes an independent kingdom with a constitution. The Emir of Cyrencia (east, coastal Libya) Muhammad Idris al Sanusi (the Sunusi brotherhood) is proclaimed King Idris I but he is not popular in the western region of Tripolitana. Poor in natural resources, Libya is dependent on the US and Britian for economic aid.

1952- in elections, Libya's government candidates win 44 out of 55 seats because of strength in rural areas, or 80 per cent of the country because tribal leaders advise their people to vote for their traditionalist Sanusi king. The modernizing, pan-Arab National Congress Party cries foul. The NCP, backed by Nasser, launches protests but King Idris exiles their leadership.

King Idris.

1952-1962- King Idris provides Libya with stable rule through consultation with tribes. However, nearly bereft of natural resources, Libya relies on foreign aid from Brtiain and the US.

1953-54- Libya allows the US and Britain to establish bases provided they pay an annual subsidy and train the Libyan military.

Discovery of Oil.

1956- an American prospecter makes the first discovery of oil in Libya.

1959- oil wells developed in Libya
-King Idris leans toward the West and switches to modenrization.
1962- -in Libya, rapid change, centralization of the formerly decentralized state and the vote for women alienates many Muslims.

1963- after a history of conflict between its three regions, Libya changes from a federal state to a unitary state.

The Monarchy in Crisis.
-Libyans turn against King Idris for being to biased toward the West.

1964- -King Idris dissolves Libyan parliament

1964-66- Anglo-Libyan treaty ends and British troops are withdrawn from Libya.

1965- King Idris rigs May elections.1966- under the rule of king Idriss, Libya is making $500 million annually, while the oil revenue increases popular expectations yet fails to provide jobs or an improved standard of living for any but the wealthiest.

Young Libyans, alienated from traditional society, are educated in Egyptian, Syrian and Iraqi Pan Arab Socialism by teachers imported from the Middle East. However the older generation associates socialism, democracy and any sort of modernism with the destructive Italian occupation of 1911-1943 which all but destroyed the country.

Colonel Ghaddafi's Coup D'Etat.
-1969- at least four coups plotted against Libya's King Idriss.

-1969- Sept 1, 1969- Colonel Ghaddafi and the Free Unionist Officers take power in a bloodless coup and rules with the Revolutionary Command Council. The 1951 constitution is ended. Gaddafi appeals sucessfully to anti-Communist, anti-capitalist, pro-Islam Arab nationalism. He embraces international, Islamist causes and supports terror operations in Lebanon, Egypt and Chad.

TIMELINE FOR THE MAGHREB- MOROCCO, TUNISIA, ALGERIA AND LIBYA.
Thanks to BBC for items after 2000.

Phoenicians

1150 BC- north Coast of Morocco is inhabited by Phoenicians.

-Phoenicians rule Libya,

975-715 BC- the Libyans invade and conquer Egypt.

Greeks, Carthaginians

375 BC -Greeks rule coastal Libya

560 BC- Carthage in present-day Tunisia.

192 BC- Libya and Algeria ruled by the Kingdom of Numidia. Carthage reduced to Tunisia.
Morocco ruled by the Kingdom of Mauretania.

Rome

145 BC- Rome rules Carthage in present day Tunisia.

74 BC- Rome rules most of Numidia (Libya)

44 BC-14 AD- resistance against Rome in Mauretania.

67- Rome controls the entire coastal Maghreb from Egypt to the Atlantic.

-Rome rules Algeria as a province of the empire- Berbers pushed back into interior.

Vandals and Byzantines.

400-Vandals rule coastal Maghreb from Libya up to Roman Morocco.

-Vandals rule Algeria

500- Kingdom of the Vandals in Libya, Algeria.

525-565- Justinian takes coastal Libya, Algeria and Tunia for the Byzantine Empire.

-Byzantines rule Libya.

Arabs- The Muslim Invasions.

-647-698- Arabs conquer Libyan Tripolitania, Cyrencia and Dezzan for Islam.

-700s- Muslim conquest of Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco.

-740- revolts in the Maghreb against Umayyad taxation.

Morocco.

-788-964- Idris launches a failed Shia rebellion in Arabia, flees to Morocco. Arab Shia Idrisids founded by Idris I (a descendant of Ali) rule Morocco.

-Idris II of Morocco founds Fez.

-808- Fez, Morocco, an important political and cultural center.

Tunis

-800-909- the Aghlabids in Tunisia gain idependence from the Abbasids. The Aghlabid Emirate in Tripolitania (Libya)

-the Rustamid Imamate in coastal Algeria.

-909- after a coup d’etat, the Shia Fatamids (who claimed descent from Mohammed daughter, Fatima) establish a dynasty in Tunisia.

-the Fatamids go on to conquer all of North Africa.

-1046-1147- The Almoravids

The Almohads of Morocco.

1130-1269- the Almohads of Morocco launch invasions in Spain to stop the Christian resurgence.

-Almohads spread Islam into sub-Saharan Africa.

Europe and the Ottoman Empire.

1434- Western Sahara discovered by Portugal.

1551- Ottomans conquer Libyan provinces of Tripolitania, Cyrencia .

1566- Algiers on Barbary Coast and Tunis controlled by the Habsburgs.

1574- Ottomans conquer Tunisia.

-Ottomans divide Libya into the regencies of Tripolitania, Tunisia and Algeria.

Tripolitania, piracy and war with Europe.

-pirates based in Tripoli prey on Christian shipping.

1620- (circa) Janissary military caste of slave soldiers sends out their own appointed Dey who often had more power than the provincial governors appointed by the Sultan.

1650- the entire Mediterranean and its coasts are controlled by the Ottomans, save for Morocco, Spain, France and Italy.

Libya and Britain.

1711- the Janissary Ahmad Karamanli becomes Dey, kills the Ottoman governor of Tripolitania and and persuades the Ottomans to name him governor. Thenceforward, Ottoman rule is only indirect and the post of governor remains in the Karamanli family until 1835.

-the Karamanli Deys of Tripolitania extract heavy tribute from the Tripoli pirates and extend Ottoman rule into the interior.

1795- Yusuf Karamanli becomes Dey of Tripoli, draws close to Britain.

1801-1805- war between the US and Tripoli about the amount of tribute US shipping should pay to the Dey for protection from pirates. By 1805 Britain has extablished naval supremacy in the Mediterranean.

-the Karamanli dynasty establishes stable rule having emerged in one piece from the American intervention in Tripoli.

-British Consul in Tripoli, Richard Warrington decides that the presence of the British fleet in Malta
justifies the extension of British fleet over Ysuf Pasha. He arranges for a large British trading fleet to be established in Tripoli. Warrington then forms cllose relations with tribal leaders and places vice-consuls in all the towns of Libya.

1815-1835 England, France, and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies successfully extirpate piracy, vastly reducing the tribute paid to the Dey of Tripolitania. As a result, Yusuf became more dependent on foreign consuls and trading missions.

-to make up for lost revenue, Yusuf Pasha also attempted to seize control of the trans Sahara trade by conquest of the Bornu Emirate. But the British Conusl, Warrington prevents him from doing so by sending British officers to secure control over the Sahara and Sudan under the cover of scholarly exploration.

French Conflict with Britain in Libya.

-France appoints its own consul in Tripoli, Charles Rousseau, to keep an eye on the British and soon Rousseau and Wa\rrington are competeing for control of Yusuf Pasha.

1830- the French fleet forces Yusuf Pasha of Tripolitana to limit the size of his fleet and to sign a non-aggression pact with France. As a way of seizing control, British Conusl Warrngton calls in Yusuf's foreign debts- far beyond his ability to pay. As he tries to exact tribute from the tribes, revolts break out, among them one led by a tribal chief, Ouled Suleiman, a close aly of Warrington.

1830- France sends colonists into Algeria.

1831- British-backed Ouled Suleiman controls central Libya and asks for British protection.

1832- Suleiman asks the British to take control of Libya and establish law and order. Britain, with a fleet anchored off Tripoli, gives Yusuf 48 hours to pay his debt. Refused any help by the tribes, he abdicates in favour of his son Ali. Warrington rejects the move and, with tribal backing, brings in another branch of the Karamanlis backing Yusuf's grandson Mohammed- leaving Ali with Tripoli and the surrounding country with Mohammed.

1834- a stalemate develops as a new Liberal government in England declines an expensive colonization project in Libya. The French, taking advantage of Britain relaxing her grip, back the supremacy of Ali.

Ottoman Rule is re-established in Libya.

1835- hereditary dynasty of the Karamanli Deys of Tripoli has ended, ultimately due to Europe's extirpation of piracy which diminished tribute to the Karamanlis. The British consul having staged a coup e'tat with Mohammed suddenly faces a change of policy at home. In May, the Ottoman Empire, loathe to lose Tipolitana to European Christians, seizes the opportunity and sends a fleet into Tripoli on grounds of a plea for help by Ali. Ali is arrested and Mohammed flees and commits suicide May intervenes quickly to take control.

1835-1911 -direct Ottoman rule is re-established.

1842- Ottomans conquer Libyan province of Fazzan.

-Tripolitania and Cyrencia are stable but politically and economically autonomous from Constantinople.

-the Sanusi brotherhood gains recruits from Cyrenaica, Tripolitania and Fazzan.

French rule of Northwest Africa.

1848- Algeria is annexed to France and given a French administrative structure, with departments- in Oran, Constantine and Algiers.

1870- most of Algeria is under French military control.

1881- Morocco becomes a French protectorate.

1881- Algeria formally becomes part of France.

1883- Tunisia, due to its strategic location at the center of the Mediterranean, becomes a French protectorate.

1884- the Western Sahara claimed as a protectorate by Spain.

Entente Cordiale

1904- Entente Cordiale- Morocco falls under French influence.

1902- France fully controls Algeria.

Italian Invasion of Tripoli

1911-1943- Italy declares war on Turkey and occupies Tripoli. End of Ottoman rule. Due to Italian abuses, the populaton of Libya drops from 750,000 to 500,000.

1912- treaty of Ouchy- Italy gives autonomy to Tripoli and northern Libya. However fighting continues.

European Competition for Morocco.

-France intervenes in Morocco to put down a rebellion. Germany competes with France for influence in Morocco.

1912- most of Morocco is a French protectorate. The Treaty of Fez establishes French Morocco with a capital at Rabat and Spanish Morocco in the northern Rif area with a capital at Tetouan.

1914- Italy occupies most of Libya but becomes locked in a long war against the Sanusi and their allies.

1919- Algerians are without civil rights, save for a small elite given rights in return for renouncing their Islamic faith and customs. The French take the best land for agriculture, with Algerian peasants working the land for low wages.

-the French-educated Tunisian elite demand more political participation in their own affairs.

Resistance in Morocco.

1920-34 –rebel Abd al Krim leads resistance against Spanish, then French Morocco.

1921- Libya: Idris, the young Senussi sheikh of Cyrenecia accepts the Emirate of Tripolitana and unifies Libya.

1923- International Zone created in Tangiers, Morocco.

Italy Creates Libya.

1934- Italy combines Tripolitania and Cyrenaica, naming the region Libya. Fazzan is part of Tripolitania.

-Italian governor of Libya, Italo Balbo builds schools, hospitals and government buildings in Libya.

Resistance in Tunisia.

1934- the Tunisian socialist Neo-Destour party led by Habib Bourguiba becomes the focus of opposition to French colonial rule, demanding an incremental process of liberation.

1930s- -the nationalist Istiqlas movement rises in Moroccan cities. But French administrator Marshal Lyautey keeps the rebel movement in check.

-Italy sends 40,000 colonists to the plateau region of Libya.

World War II- German-Allied struggle for Libya.

1939- Libya becomes an Italian province.

1940-45- British and French fight Germans for control of Libya. Alergia is ruled by the Vichy government.

1940- Moroccan rebels encouraged by France’s defeat by Nazi Germany

-1942- birth of Muammar Ghaddafi to a tribe in the central Sirtic Desert.

1943- Libya placed under British-French military rule.

June 3- DeGaulle sets up the Committee of National Liberation on Algiers

1943 -French and Anglo-American forces liberate Tunisia from German occupation.

Colonialism Reasserts Itself.

-French colonists in Tunisia insist on reasserting control.

1944- in Morocco the Istiqlas movement is made official.

1947- Italy concedes all claims to Libya. Algerian nationalists are promised full political rights. But France’s fourth republic is too weak to force conservative Algerian colonists to live up to the commitment. Moreover, the military commanders also side with the colonists.

Libyan Indepedence

1951- Libya becomes an independent kingdom with a constitution. The Emir of Cyrencia (east, coastal Libya) Muhammad Idris al Sanusi (the Sunusi brotherhood) is proclaimed King Idris I but he is not popular in Tripolitana. Poor in natural resources, Libya is dependent on the US and Britian for economic aid.

1952- in elections, Libya's government candidates win 44 out of 55 seats because of strength in rural areas, or 80 per cent of the country because tribal leaders advise their people to vote for their traditionalist Sanusi king. The pan-Arab National Congress Party cries foul. The NCP, backed by Nasser, launches protests but King Idris exiles their leadership.

1952-1962- King Idris provides Libya with stable rule through consultation with tribes. However, nearly bereft of natural resources, Libya relies on foreign aid from Brtiain and the US.

Renewed Anti-Colonial Resistance

1953- the Moroccan Sultan Ibn Yusuf is deported by France to Madagascar because of his alleged support of the Isliqlas nationalism movement.

1953-54- Libya allows the US and Britain to establish bases provided they pay an annual subsidy and train the Libyan military.

The Franco-Algerian War.

1954-62- in response to brutal repression, the guerilla forces of the Algerian FLN wage war against French occupation. The country is destroyed; the colonists take most of their wealth with them to France.

-Boumerdas and Tizi Ouzou, in the Berber region of Kabylia in eastern Algeria is a center of resistance.

-under Ben Bella- the farms of emigrated Algerian colonists are nationalized and ruled through peasant autonomy.

Tunisian Autonomy.

1954- after growing unrest, France grants autonomy to Tunisia.

1955- Istiqlas nationalists start a guerrilla war in Morocco.

Moroccan Independence.

1956- Feb 18- France grants Morocco independence. Sultan Ibn Yusuf returns and is made King Muhammad V. Muhammad gets broad popular backing in wielding absolute power to develop industry and exploit mineral resources.

-after imprisoning Tunsian Habib Bourguiba, the French government under Mendes France decides he is a moderate compared to other Arab leaders and allows him to run for president.

1956- an American prospecter makes the first discovery of oil in Libya.

Tunisian Independence.

1956- Tunisia becomes independent from France. The monarchy is abolished. Habib Bourguiba becomes Prime Minister.

1956- Morocco becomes independent from French and Spanish protectorates.

1957- Morocco occupies the Western Sahara.

1957- Tunisia becomes a republic as Habib Bourguiba is elected president.

1959- oil wells developed in Libya.

1961- Hassan II succeeds to the throne of Morocco. He is also prime minister.

Algerian Independence.

1962- Algeria gains independence from France. Ahmed Ben Bella is the first president of the republic.

-in Libya, rapid modernization, centralization of the formerly decentralized state and the vote for women alienates many Muslims.

1962- Bouguiba succeeds in getting the French to withdraw their military bases from Tunisia.

1963- after a history of conflict between its three regions, Libya changes from a federal state to a unitary state.

-Libyans turn against King Idris for being to biased toward the West.

1964- -King Idris dissolves Libyan parliament

1964-66- Anglo-Libyan treaty ends and British troops are withdrawn from Libya.

1965- King Idris rigs May elections.

Algeria's Boumedienne

1965- the Algerian government of Ben Bella is overthrown in a coup d’etat by Houari Boumedienne who maintains a dictatorship until 1974.

-under Boumedienne, Algerian peasant self-government is abandoned because of low productivity. Boumedienne shifts his socialist economic policy to nationalization and industrialization. Islamic and Arabic religious and cultural identity is promoted. Nevertheless Algeria remains economically dependent on France, where many Algerians are working.

Moroccan Dictatorship

1965- after riots in Casablanca, Hassan II of Morocco, declares a royal dictatorship.

Libya and Ghaddafi.

1966- under the rule of king Idriss, Libya is making $500 million annually, while the oil revenue increases popular expectations yet fails to provide jobs or an improved standard of living for any but the wealthiest.

Young Libyans, alienated from traditional society, are educated in Egyptian, Syrian and Iraqi Pan Arab Socialism by teachers imported from the Middle East. However the older generation associates socialism, democracy and any sort of modernism with the destructive Italian occupation of 1911-1943 which all but destroyed the country.
-1969- at least four coups plotted against Libya's King Idriss.
1969- Spet 1, 1969- Colonel Ghaddafi and the Free Unionist Officers take power in a bloodless coup and rule with the Revolutionary Command Council. The 1951 constitution is ended. Gaddafi appeals sucessfully to anti-Communist, anti-capitalist, pro-Islam Arab nationalism. He embraces international, Islamist causes and supports terror operations in Lebanon, Egypt and Chad.

-Ghaddafi concentrates power in the Revolitionary Command Council (RCC) composed of the 12 Free Unionist Officers closest to Ghaddafi- all are under 30. Alcohol is banned, night clubs closed and alll Roman script in public places replaced with Arabic. All Jews and the remaining 30,000 Italians are expelled from the country.

-after oil companies refuse to give Libya a controlling 51% share but fail to bribe Libyan negotiators or agree on a united front, Ghaddafi nationalizes foreign-owned industries; provides free health care, minimum wage, the right to work and an education system. Grass roots local committees provide an illusion of populist democracy. He is socialist but anti-communist.

-Ghadaffi is oriented toward the Middle East rather than North Africa and forms close ties with Egypt and Syria.

1969-1970- Ghaddafi resists military coups launched against him.

-British and US bases are closed and Britain and the US withdraw all personnel and material.
-Libya and Algeria join forces to confront the big oil companies.

1970-72- Ghaddafi is prime minister of Libya.

Hassan II's Authoritarianism in Morocco.

1970- Hassan II of Morocco reforms the constitution but still hangs on to his supreme religious and political authority.

1971-1972- continued poverty and royal absolutism lead to unsuccessful attempted coups against Morocco’s Hassan II.

1970s- foreign military stations closed down in Libya. Ghaddafi promotes Islam andArab unity.

-Ghadaffi supports dictator Idi Amin of Uganda as a fellow Muslim.

1973- terrorist attacks against Moroccan government.

Ghaddafi's Arab Nationalism.

1973- 15 August- Ghadaffi, disgusted with corruption and luxury arising from Libyan oil wealth, launches the Libyan Zwara “cultural revolution” to entrench socialist and Muslim values. Islamic law is imposed. Ba'ath, Communist and all foreign parties are banned. Populace is armed to protect the Revolution. A purge is carried out of the old ruling elite while the bureaucracy is "returned to the people."

Oct- Libya contributes troops and supplies to the Arab cause in the Yom Kippur war against Israel.

1974- with all opposition having been outlawed, Tunsian President Habib Bourguiba declared president for life. However, state control over education and the economy brings stability and increased rights for women.

- May 7- Libya's Gadaffi calls for the creation of Popular Committes to foment the revolution in every community.

-May 14- Gadaffi announces his Third Universal Theory- a traditional Islamic, Libyan Bedouin middle way between Capitalism and Communism advocating communal values for a government modelled on the age-old autonomous Bedouin council. He is the first and only leader in the Maghreb to appeal to indigenous traditions.

1974- Algerian President Boumedienne holds elections. He is declared president by a new constitution.

1975- the former Spanish Sahara comes under joint control of Morocco, Mauritania and Spain. The southern area, Tiris al Gharbia, is shared by Mauritania and Morocco.

-the Algerian economy is increasingly dependent on oil.

-Ghadaffi survives another attempted coup.

1976- January- 187 Popular Committees established in Libya. Each sends three members to attend the First General Congress of the Socialist ppular Libyan Arab Jamahiriya ("rule by the masses"). Property sharing is promoted, multiple ownership of property is ooutlawed. Profit-sharing replaces wages.Major dealerships, retail and grocery operations are all nationalized. The only weakness is the RCC's control of alll vital institutions from oil to security and the military- contrary to popular soverignty. The RCC meanwhile has shrunk to Ghaddafi, Colonel Jalloud, Colonel Mustafa Kharroubi, Colonel Khweldi Homei, and military chi8ef, Colonel Abu Bakr Younis.

Polisario Conflict with Morocco over Western Sahara.

1976- the Spanish Sahara is re-named the Western Sahara. The Algeria-based Polisario Front sets up a government in exile. The Polisario calls the disputed region The Saharan Arab Democratic Republic.

-Tunisian government’s refusal to legalize opposition parties causes political unrest and provokes the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in the 1970s and 1980s.

1976-80- Hassan II deploys a large army to block Polisaro forces from infiltrating Morocco’s western border. Despite military backing from the U.S., he is unable to contol the Western Sahara.

1979- The Polisario, an Algerian-backed liberation front in the Western Sahara forces Mauretania to withdraw. Morocco becomes responsible for the Spanish Sahara despite an independence movement there which is not recognized by Morocco.

1979- Algerian President Chadi Benjedid succeeds Boumedienne.

1980- Ghaddafi launches a campaign of assassination against Libyan dissidents in Europe.

1981- a drop in the price of oil increases the burden of Algeria’s foreign debt. Boumedienne’s successor Chadli is forced to adopt market-oriented economic reforms and austerity measures.

1982- in response to Libyan support for international terrorism, the US bans Libyan oil imports.

Fundamentalism Emerges in Tunisia.

1983-84- Islamic Fundamentalists riot against Tunisian president Bourguiba. His influence is reduced.

1984- urban unrest prompts Hassan II of Morocco to appoint a coalition government of national unity under a civilian prime minister.

-the war in the Western Sahara puts increasing strain on the Moroccan economy throughout the 1980s.

1984- UK accuses Libya of the murder of a police officer in London and severs relations.

-Ghaddafi invades northern Chad for its alleged uranium reserves. But his offensive fails.

1986- Libyan terrorists accused in the bombing of a US forces night club in Germany. President Reagan orders the bombing of Benghazi and Tripoli in an attempt to kill Gaddafi.

Fundamentalism in Tunisia.

1987- due to political unrest, Tunisian president Bourguiba, on grounds of senility, is deposed by his prime minister, Ben Ali. Ben Ali attempts to bring in multi-party politics. But political liberalization is slowed down by resistance from Islamic fundamentalists.

1988- reforms made in the Tunisian constitution to allow opposition parties some minimal representation in the legislature.

1988- The UN decides that the Sahrawi people of Western Sahara should hold a referendum on independence under the Polisario or rule by Morocco.

1988- a Pan Am jet, later found to be rigged with explosives by Libyan agents, explodes and comes down over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing all aboard.

Fundamentalism in Algeria.

-in Algeria the official policy of economic and cultural nationalism fails as Chadli’s austerity measures provoke an Islamic fundamentalist backlash.

1989- in Algeria, Chadli changes the constitution to allow for political parties including the Islamist Islamic Salvation Front- despite their vow to destroy the existing order.

1989- two Libyan fighter jets shot down by warplanes from US aircraft carrier off the North African coast.

-internal and external pressures cause Ghaddafi to withdraw from Chad, allow private enterprise, withdraw support from terror groups and hand over evidence to Britain that he gave support to the IRA.

-Ghaddafi continues building chemical weapons.

The Maghreb Union

1989- the Maghreb Union is founded in Marrakesh, Morocco- with Hassan II, Chadli of Ageria, Zine of Tunisia, Gaddafi of Libya and Sidi Ahmed of Mauritania.

1990- first Maghreb Union summit in Tunis.

-second Maghredb Union Summit in Algiers calls for the princiuple of a customs union.

1990- December- a general strike in Morocco.

-Ghaddafi condemns Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait.

Crackdown on Islamists in Libya.

- Ghaddafi’s increasing moderation causes him to imprison 2,000 Islamist radicals.

1991- UN-brokered ceasefire between the Polisario and Morocco.

Islamists Garner Most Votes in Algerian Eelections.

1991- in Algerian elections, the Islamic Salvation front wins almost half the seats in parliament desppite only 25% of the popular vote and Chadli resigns, giving way to a 5-member transitional state council.

Islamic Insurgency in Algeria.

-an Algerian Islamic insurgency started in 1992 after authorities cancelled elections an Islamist party was poised to win.

1992- February-9- Algeria’s State Council bans the Islamic Salvation Front.

-1992-1999- Algerian civil war between Islamists and the government takes 100,000 lives.

1992- UN imposes sanctions against Libya after it refuses to extradite two Libyans accused in the bombing which brought down a Pan AM passenger plane over Lockerbie, Scotland.

1992- clashes in Algeria between government forces and guerillas of the Islamic Salvation Front. The civil war will last throughout most of the 1990s.

-Libya suffers from UN sanctions, despite its oil wealth.

1994- Tunisian president Ben Ali is re-elected; further constitutional reforms are brought in. However the threat from Islamic fundamentalists is handled by imprisoning them.
Ben Ali promotes Tunisian cultural nationalism against continued French influence.

1995- Morocco- a referendum brings about the formation of a bicameral legislature.

Founding of GSPC.

1998- the G.S.P.C. is created as an offshoot of the Armed Islamic Group (GIA), which along with other Islamist guerrilla forces fought a brutal decade-long civil war after the Algerian military canceled elections in early 1992 because an Islamist party was poised to win. The group is founded by Hassan Hattab, a former Armed Islamic Group (GIA) regional commander after breaking with the GIA in in protest over the GIA's slaughter of civilians.

1999- April 5- in a compromise with Ghaddafi, the Lockerbie suspects are handed over under Scottish law for trial at the international criminal tribunal at the Hague. UN sanctions against Libya are lifted.

End of Civil War in Algeria.

1999- Abdul Aziz Bouteflika is elected president despite withdrawal of all other candidates in protest of unfair elections; with approval by referendum, he declares an amnesty with the Islamic Salvation Front and promotes reconciliation, bringing an end to the civil conflict in Algeria.

-many former Algerian GIA fighters lay down their arms, but a few remain active, including members of the GSPC.

1999- Hassan II of Morocco dies and is succeeded by Mohammed VI.

-Mohammed VI brings about reform and reconciliation and allows opposition leaders to return to Morocco. He dismisses Driss Basri, Hassan’s Minister for Domestic Affairs.

2000- Islamist attacks continue in Algeria, despite amnesty.

2000- African immigrant workers killed by Libyan mobs

2001- Lockerbie trial in the Netherlands results in one conviction.

-various countries including the US begin to do business with Libya again. Thus Libya avoided being a target in the War on Terror.

-Morocco: Mohammed IV’s reforms in such matters as women’s rights, prompt a backlash from Islamic fundamentalists.

2001-May- Algerian Berbers in Kabylie are killed by police while protesting police brutality. Later in the year the government gives official status to the Berber language.
The main Berber party withdraws from the government in protest.

2002- US and Libya hold reconciliation talks.

Beginning of post- 9-11 Sucide Attacks

2003- May 16- 5 suicide blasts in Casablanca hitting Jewish and Spanish targets.

June- Abassi, Madani leader of Algeria’s Islamic Salvation Front freed from prison.

-Libya elected to chair the UN Human Rights Commission.

August- Libya takes responsibility for the Lockerbie bombing and compensates families of the victims, promises to halt programs for weapons of mass destruction.

GSPC mass kidnapping in Algeria.

2003- a G.S.P.C. leader in southern Algeria kidnaps 32 European tourists, some of whom are released for a ransom of 5 million euros (about $6.5 million at current exchange rates), paid by Germany. Officials say the leader, Amari Saifi, bought weapons and recruited fighters before the United States military helped corner and catch him in 2004. He is now serving a life sentence in Algeria.

Moroccan Connection to Madrid Train Bombing.

2004- March 11- suicide bombing of train in Madrid kills 191, injures over 1,000. Lengthy investigation concludes that cells did not come from any well known Islamist group but from Morrocaan hash-smuggling rings previously connected with an Al Qaeda group which became defunct.

-April- Algerian President Boutelika re-elected in a landslide.

June- Abdelmalik Droukdel announces his arrival with a truck bomb at the Algeria’s most important electrical production facility and focuses on associating the GSPC with Al Qaeda. . “The Algerian military says he cut his teeth in the 1990s as a member of the Armed Islamic Group’s feared Ahoual or “horror” company, blamed for some of the most gruesome massacres of Algeria’s civil war.” NYT

-GSPC (al-Qaeda-linked Salafist Group for Call and Combat) declares war on all foreign nationals and interests in Algeria.

- British P.M. Tony Blair visits Libya.

-5 Bulgarian nurses imprisoned in Libya for infecting chidren with HIV.

GSPCmounts attacks in Mauretania.

2005- June – an “attack against a military barrack in Mauritania, executed by Khaled Abul Abbas, chief of the GSPC in the Sahara came as part of this tendency, according to well informed sources. Al-Qaeda was interminably giving guidelines to the Salafist Group since 9/11 attacks.” (ALGERIA EVENTS)

-June-- “Indications that a cross-border alliance was under way came…when the G.S.P.C. attacked a military outpost in Mauritania, killing 15 soldiers. The attackers fled into Mali, according to the United States military.” NYT

End of GIA.

-Nourredine Boudiafi, head of Algeria’s Armed Islamc Group, is arrested, ending the groups effective existence.

September 2005- “the Center for Strategic and International Studies estimated that 600 Algerians were fighting as foreign jihadists in Iraq. At the time, this was believed to be 20 percent of the total strength of the foreign insurgents in Iraq -- the largest of any single group.” -STRATFOR

-Algerian government promises Berbers language rights and capital invesment.

2005- Libya opened to international oil exploration and investment.

GSPC links up, merges with Al Qaeda.

Dec 8- the extremist Algerian Salafist Group for Call and Combat (GSPC) plans to set up an Al-Qaeda branch in the Maghreb countries as a base for attacks to be launched on the countries that support US administration.

2006- January- Al Qaeda in the Maghreb is officially formed from the Algerian GSPC, the Moroccan GICM (responsible for the Casablanca and Madrid bombings in 2003 and 2004 respectively), and other Tunisian elements.

2006- February- Libyans riot against Danish newspaper cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.

Al Qaeda in the Maghreb.

Sept 11- Ayman Zawahiri of Al Qaeda announces the formation of Al Qaeda in the Maghreb.

2006- 6 month Algerian amnesty for Islamists.

2006- May- US begins restoring full diplomatic relations with Libya.

-Algeria, recovering economically, commits itself to paying back its $8 billion national debt.

-September, Rabah Kebir, leader of the Islamic Salvation front, returns to Algeria and urges Islamist militants to disarm.

Dec 10- Algeria- bus bombed carrying foreign oil workers.

2006-2007- Libya’s Gaddafi joins Egypt and Sudan in several attempts at a peace settlement in Darfur.

December- 5 Bulgarian nurses and Palestinian doctor accused of inflecting children with HIV sentenced to life imprisonment.

Dec 2006 to January 2007- (Dec. 23, Jan 3) Algerian Salafist groups engage Tunisian police and army units with 14 terrorists and some police killed.

-Libya cuts the government labour force and moves to stimulate private enterprise.

Al Qaeda in the Sahel.

February- news reports point to Al Qaeda training camps in the Sahel from Senegal to Ethiopia with plans to attack targets in Europe.

Feb 13- GSPC claims responsibility for car bombings in Boumerdas and Tizi Ouzou, on the Berber region of Kabylia in eastern Algeria. (This was a center of resistance during the Algerian war).

-Feb 16 - in the mountain retion of Qashra near the town of Skikda, Alergian police kill 26 and arrest 35 militants in response to the Feb 13 car bombings.

Al Qaeda in the Maghreb present in Morocco.

Feb 20- Moroccan police search for Hmam Bilal et Bel Hachmi and Mohamed Rida who are accused of having ties with groups including the Algeria-based al Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb,

March 4- Algeria- bus carrying Algerian and Russian gas-line workers bombed- killing 3 Algerians and a Russian.

March 11- suicide bombing in Casablanca internet cafe.

April 10- three suicide blasts kill and wound police in raid on Casablanca safe house.

April 11- Algiers- bombings of the police station and prime minister’s office claim 17 lives. Claimed by Al Qaeda.

April 14- two suicide bombings on US diplomatic offices in Casablanca.

June 11- suicide truck bomb kills soldiers at military barracks near Algiers. GSPC claims responsibility.

July- the Bulgarian nurses and the doctor have death sentences in Libya commuted to life. Under a deal with the European Union, they are all repatriated.

Sept 6- suicide blast kills twenty prior to vistit of President Boutefilka near Algiers.

Sept 8- GSPC claims responsibility for bombing of military barracks, killing 37 at Dellys, Algeria.

Oct 7- Zareg Zoheir, mastermind of GSPC suicide bombings killed by Algerian police.

Dec 11- 67 killed in suicide blasts at Constitutional Court and UN offices in Algiers.

Dec 25- French tourists killed by gunman in Mauretania.

2008- Jan 2- suicide attack near police station in Algiers.

January - Libya takes one-month of the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council in a move toward respectability after years as a pariah of the West.

Feb 1- gun attack on Israeli embassy in Nouakshott, Mauretania.

March- heavy fighting in eastern Algeria between GSPC and Algerian army.

April- Spanish police arrest 2 Moroccans in 2003 Casablanca bombings.

June 6- roadside bomb kills 6 soldiers in Algeria.

June 8- double suicide blast in Algerian train station.

July 14- leader of GCPC in Algeria killed in police raid.

2008 July 18, Tunisia- 2 officials and three others were convicted of terrorist activities conspiring to overthrow the government.

Aug 19- Les Issers, Algeria- 43 killed in suicide bombing at police academy.

August - Libya and US sign agreement committing both to compensation of victims in bomb attacks on the other's citizens.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi apologises to Libya for damage inflicted by Italy during the colonial era and signs a five billion dollar investment deal by way of compensation.

Aug 20- double car-bomb attack on Bouira, Algeria, kills workers from a Canadian eater treatment project.

2008 Aug 23, A Tunisian court convicts 13 Islamic militants for planning to carry out attacks in Tunisia. 6 more ae convicted on Aug 26 for setting up a guerilla training base in Tunisia's Kef region for sending fighters to Iraq.

September, 2008 - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice makes the highest-level American visit to Libya since 1953. Ms Rice annojunce a new phase of relations between the US and Libya.

November - US Lockerbie victims' group anniunce full payment of compensation from Libya. Restoration of diplomatic relations posisble with United States.

Nov- three Tunisians prosecuted in Milan for their part in an Italy-based European terror network.

2009- Feburary- Tuinisia- a German who attacked Djerba synagogue in 2002 is sentenced by a French court to 18 yerars.

February - Gaddafi elected chairman of the African Union at meetiung of leaders in Ethiopia. He speaks of a "United States of Africa" even embracing the Caribbean.

June - Gaddafi pays his first state visit to Italy, Libya's former colonial ruler and now its main trading partner.

July- Tunisia- nine men, including two airforce officers, charged with plotting to kill US troops during joint mmilitary exercise.

August - Scotland frees jailed Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi on compassionate grounds and returns him to Libya. His release and return to a hero's welcome sturs up controversy.

September - Libyan celebrations mark 40 years since Colonel Muammar Gaddafi seizure of power.

Oct- Tunisia- President Ben Ali elected to a fifth term in office. Warns of legal consequences if the vote is questioned.

Nov- Tunisia- a journalist is jailed for assualt. Taoufik Ben Brik had written critically of the president. Human rights groups say the charge is politically motivated..

December - Diplomatic row between Switzerland and European Union after Gaddafi's son is held in Switzerland on charges of mistreating domestic workers.

2010- January - Russia agrees to sell weapons to Libya in a deal worth $1.8bn in fighter jets, tanks and air defence systems.

June - UN refugee agency UNHCR expelled from Libya.

July - US senators demand inquiry into suspicions that oil giant BP lobbied for release of Libya's Lockerbie bomber.

BP confirms plans to drill soon off Libyan coast.

- July- Tunisia- Fahem Boukadous's appeal upholds his jail sentence for coverage of violent protests.

October - European Union signs an agreement with Libya to slow illegal migration.

November - Group of journalists arrested in apparent power struggle within ruling elite. Gaddafi later orders them freed.

December - WikiLeaks releases US diplmatic cable suggesting that Gaddafi was prepared to cut trade with Britain if Lockerbie bomber died in jail.

Dec- Tunisia- protests against lack of political freedom and against unemployment become nation wide.

Jan- 2011- Tunisia- demonstrators say police killed at least 50 protesters as demonstrations continue. Government llays the blame on Islamist and left-wing "extremists," reducing the number to 21 killed. Authorities close educational institutions and bring out troop in Tunis to contain demonstrations while promising economic and social reforms. President Ben Ali fires interior minister Rafik Belhaj Kacem, has most of the protestors released and sets up a special committee to investigate corruption.

-Ben Ali flees country ahead of massive protrests.

-Pime Minister Mohammed Ghanoucchi annunces a national unity government, not fully satisfying protestors.

-Ghanouchhi briefly occupies the presidency before a constitutional deciomn kis made for lower house leader Fouad Mebazza to become interim president.

Jan 22- Algeria- sparked by the revolt on Tunisia along with rising prices and unemployment, demonstrators marching on Algiers where met police who opened fire, killing over a dozen.

Jan 26- Morocco- a fourth Moroccan sets himself on fire, in a series of suicide attempts inspired by the self-immolation that set Tunisia's revolution in motion.

February - Arrest of human rights campaigner sparks off violent protests in east Libyan city of Benghazi.

-the east Libya city of Bengazi resists government violence and falls to the protesters.

-Libya's Bengazi protest spreads to Tripoli as part of the military turns against Ghadaffi and Ghadaffi uses tanks, planes and mercenaries against protesters.

Bengazi Hoists Flag of Libya's Previous Regime.

2011-02-22T19:36:00.000-08:00

HISTORY IN THE NEWS:

DEDICATED TO THE ORIGINS OF CONTEMPORARY EVENTS AROUND THE WORLD.

TAG: The rebel and tribal stronghold of Bengazi is in Cyrenecia, homeland of Libya's former Senusi monarchy.

IN THE NEWS: IN BENGAZI, VICTORIOUS OPPONENTS TO THE GHADDAFI REGIME RAISE THE FLAG OF THE OLD SENUSI KINGDOM WHICH LAST RULED LIBYA BEFORE COLONEL GHADDAFI LAUNCHED A COUP AGAINST KING IDRIS IN 1969.

RELEVANT DATES FOR BENGAZI AND THE 2011 LIBYAN UPRISING:

Unification of Libya.

1921- Idris, the young Senusi sheikh of Cyrenecia accepts the Emirate of Tripolitana and unifies Libya.
1911-1943- Italy declares war on Turkey and occupies Tripoli. End of Ottoman rule. Due to Italian abuses, the populaton of Libya drops from 750,000 to 500,000.

Libyan Independence.
1951- Libya becomes an independent kingdom with a constitution. The Emir of Cyrencia (east, coastal Libya) Muhammad Idris al Sanusi (the Sunusi brotherhood) is proclaimed King Idris I but he is not popular in the western region of Tripolitana. Poor in natural resources, Libya is dependent on the US and Britian for economic aid.

1952- in elections, Libya's government candidates win 44 out of 55 seats because of strength in rural areas, or 80 per cent of the country because tribal leaders advise their people to vote for their traditionalist Sanusi king. The modernizing, pan-Arab National Congress Party cries foul. The NCP, backed by Nasser, launches protests but King Idris exiles their leadership.

King Idris.

1952-1962- King Idris provides Libya with stable rule through consultation with tribes. However, nearly bereft of natural resources, Libya relies on foreign aid from Brtiain and the US.

1953-54- Libya allows the US and Britain to establish bases provided they pay an annual subsidy and train the Libyan military.

Discovery of Oil.

1956- an American prospecter makes the first discovery of oil in Libya.

1959- oil wells developed in Libya
-King Idris leans toward the West and switches to modenrization.
1962- -in Libya, rapid change, centralization of the formerly decentralized state and the vote for women alienates many Muslims.

1963- after a history of conflict between its three regions, Libya changes from a federal state to a unitary state.

The Monarchy in Crisis.
-Libyans turn against King Idris for being to biased toward the West.

1964- -King Idris dissolves Libyan parliament

1964-66- Anglo-Libyan treaty ends and British troops are withdrawn from Libya.

1965- King Idris rigs May elections.1966- under the rule of king Idriss, Libya is making $500 million annually, while the oil revenue increases popular expectations yet fails to provide jobs or an improved standard of living for any but the wealthiest.

Young Libyans, alienated from traditional society, are educated in Egyptian, Syrian and Iraqi Pan Arab Socialism by teachers imported from the Middle East. However the older generation associates socialism, democracy and any sort of modernism with the destructive Italian occupation of 1911-1943 which all but destroyed the country.

Colonel Ghaddafi's Coup D'Etat.
-1969- at least four coups plotted against Libya's King Idriss.

-1969- Sept 1, 1969- Colonel Ghaddafi and the Free Unionist Officers take power in a bloodless coup and rules with the Revolutionary Command Council. The 1951 constitution is ended. Gaddafi appeals sucessfully to anti-Communist, anti-capitalist, pro-Islam Arab nationalism. He embraces international, Islamist causes and supports terror operations in Lebanon, Egypt and Chad.

TIMELINE FOR THE MAGHREB- MOROCCO, TUNISIA, ALGERIA AND LIBYA.
Thanks to BBC for items after 2000.

Phoenicians

1150 BC- north Coast of Morocco is inhabited by Phoenicians.

-Phoenicians rule Libya,

975-715 BC- the Libyans invade and conquer Egypt.

Greeks, Carthaginians

375 BC -Greeks rule coastal Libya

560 BC- Carthage in present-day Tunisia.

192 BC- Libya and Algeria ruled by the Kingdom of Numidia. Carthage reduced to Tunisia.
Morocco ruled by the Kingdom of Mauretania.

Rome

145 BC- Rome rules Carthage in present day Tunisia.

74 BC- Rome rules most of Numidia (Libya)

44 BC-14 AD- resistance against Rome in Mauretania.

67- Rome controls the entire coastal Maghreb from Egypt to the Atlantic.

-Rome rules Algeria as a province of the empire- Berbers pushed back into interior.

Vandals and Byzantines.

400-Vandals rule coastal Maghreb from Libya up to Roman Morocco.

-Vandals rule Algeria

500- Kingdom of the Vandals in Libya, Algeria.

525-565- Justinian takes coastal Libya, Algeria and Tunia for the Byzantine Empire.

-Byzantines rule Libya.

Arabs- The Muslim Invasions.

-647-698- Arabs conquer Libyan Tripolitania, Cyrencia and Dezzan for Islam.

-700s- Muslim conquest of Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco.

-740- revolts in the Maghreb against Umayyad taxation.

Morocco.

-788-964- Idris launches a failed Shia rebellion in Arabia, flees to Morocco. Arab Shia Idrisids founded by Idris I (a descendant of Ali) rule Morocco.

-Idris II of Morocco founds Fez.

-808- Fez, Morocco, an important political and cultural center.

Tunis

-800-909- the Aghlabids in Tunisia gain idependence from the Abbasids. The Aghlabid Emirate in Tripolitania (Libya)

-the Rustamid Imamate in coastal Algeria.

-909- after a coup d’etat, the Shia Fatamids (who claimed descent from Mohammed daughter, Fatima) establish a dynasty in Tunisia.

-the Fatamids go on to conquer all of North Africa.

-1046-1147- The Almoravids

The Almohads of Morocco.

1130-1269- the Almohads of Morocco launch invasions in Spain to stop the Christian resurgence.

-Almohads spread Islam into sub-Saharan Africa.

Europe and the Ottoman Empire.

1434- Western Sahara discovered by Portugal.

1551- Ottomans conquer Libyan provinces of Tripolitania, Cyrencia .

1566- Algiers on Barbary Coast and Tunis controlled by the Habsburgs.

1574- Ottomans conquer Tunisia.

-Ottomans divide Libya into the regencies of Tripolitania, Tunisia and Algeria.

Tripolitania, piracy and war with Europe.

-pirates based in Tripoli prey on Christian shipping.

1620- (circa) Janissary military caste of slave soldiers sends out their own appointed Dey who often had more power than the provincial governors appointed by the Sultan.

1650- the entire Mediterranean and its coasts are controlled by the Ottomans, save for Morocco, Spain, France and Italy.

Libya and Britain.

1711- the Janissary Ahmad Karamanli becomes Dey, kills the Ottoman governor of Tripolitania and and persuades the Ottomans to name him governor. Thenceforward, Ottoman rule is only indirect and the post of governor remains in the Karamanli family until 1835.

-the Karamanli Deys of Tripolitania extract heavy tribute from the Tripoli pirates and extend Ottoman rule into the interior.

1795- Yusuf Karamanli becomes Day of Tripoli, draws close to Britain.

1801-1805- war between the US and Tripoli about the amount of tribute US shipping should pay to the Dey for protection from pirates. By 1805 Britain has extablished naval supremacy in the Mediterranean.

-the Karamanli dynasty establishes stable rule having emerged in one piece from the American intervention in Tripoli.

-British Consul in Tripoli, Richard Warrington decides that the presence of the British fleet in Malta
justifies the extension of British fleet over Ysuf Pasha. He arranges for a large British trading fleet to be established in Tripoli. Warrington then forms cllose relations with tribal leaders and places vice-consuls in all the towns of Libya.

1815-1835 England, France, and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies successfully extirpate piracy, vastly reducing the tribute paid to the Dey of Tripolitania. As a result, Yusuf became more dependent on foreign consuls and trading missions.

-to make up for lost revenue, Yusuf Pasha also attempted to seize control of the trans Sahara trade by conquest of the Bornu Emirate. But the British Conusl, Warrington prevents him from doing so by sending British officers to secure control over the Sahara and Sudan under the cover of scholarly exploration.

French Conflict with Britain in Libya.

-France appoints its own consul in Tripoli, Charles Rousseau, to keep an eye on the British and soon Rousseau and Wa\rrington are competeing for control of Yusuf Pasha.

1830- the French fleet forces Yusuf Pasha of Tripolitana to limit the size of his fleet and to sign a non-aggression pact with France. As a way of seizing control, British Conusl Warrngton calls in Yusus's foreign debts- far beyiond his ability to pay. As he tries to exact tribute from the tribes, revolts break out, among them one led by Ouled Suleiman, a close aly of Warrington.

1830- France sends colonists into Algeria.

1831- British-backed Ouled Suleiman controls central Libya and asks for British protection.

1832- Suleiman asks the British to take control of Libya and establish law and order. Britain, with a fleet anchored off Tripoli, gives Yusuf 48 hours to pay his debt. Refused any help by the tribes, he abdicates in favour of his son Ali. Warrington rejects the move and, with tribal backing, brings in another branch of the Karamanlis backing Yusuf's grandson Mohammed- leaving Ali with Tripoli and the surrounding country with Mohammed.

1834- a stalemat develops as a new Liberal government in England declines an expensive colonization project in Libya. The French, taking advantage of Britain relaxing her grip, back the supremacy of Ali.

Ottoman Rule is re-established in Libya.

1835- hereditary dynasty of the Karamanli Deys of Tripoli has ended, ultimately due to Europe'sextirpation of piracy which diminished tribute to the Karamanlis. The British consul having staged a coup e'tat with Mohammed suddenly faces a change of policy at home. In May, the Ottoman Empire, loathe to lose Tipolitana to European Christians, seizes the opportunity and sends a fleet into Tripoli on grounds of a plea for help by Ali. Ali is arrested and Mohammed flees and commits suicide May intervenes quickly to take control.

1835-1911 -direct Ottoman rule is re-established.

1842- Ottomans conquer Libyan province of Fazzan.

-Tripolitania and Cyrencia are stable but politically and economically autonomous from Constantinople.

-the Sanusi brotherhood gains recruits from Cyrenaica, Tripolitania and Fazzan.

French rule of Northwest Africa.

1848- Algeria is annexed to France and given a French administrative structure, with departments- in Oran, Constantine and Algiers.

1870- most of Algeria is under French military control.

1881- Morocco becomes a French protectorate.

1881- Algeria formally becomes part of France.

1883- Tunisia, due to its strategic location at the center of the Mediterranean, becomes a French protectorate.

1884- the Western Sahara claimed as a protectorate by Spain.

Entente Cordiale

1904- Entente Cordiale- Morocco falls under French influence.

1902- France fully controls Algeria.

Italian Invasion of Tripoli

1911-1943- Italy declares war on Turkey and occupies Tripoli. End of Ottoman rule. Due to Italian abuses, the populaton of Libya drops from 750,000 to 500,000.

1912- treaty of Ouchy- Italy gives autonomy to Tripoli and northern Libya. However fighting continues.

European Competition for Morocco.

-France intervenes in Morocco to put down a rebellion. Germany competes with France for influence in Morocco.

1912- most of Morocco is a French protectorate. The Treaty of Fez establishes French Morocco with a capital at Rabat and Spanish Morocco in the northern Rif area with a capital at Tetouan.

1914- Italy occupies most of Libya but becomes locked in a long war against the Sanusi and their allies.

1919- Algerians are without civil rights, save for a small elite given rights in return for renouncing their Islamic faith and customs. The French take the best land for agriculture, with Algerian peasants working the land for low wages.

-the French-educated Tunisian elite demand more political participation in their own affairs.

Resistance in Morocco.

1920-34 –rebel Abd al Krim leads resistance against Spanish, then French Morocco.

1921- Libya: Idris, the young Senussi sheikh of Cyrenecia accepts the Emirate of Tripolitana and unifies Libya.

1923- International Zone created in Tangiers, Morocco.

Italy Creates Libya.

1934- Italy combines Tripolitania and Cyrenaica, naming the region Libya. Fazzan is part of Tripolitania.

-Italian governor of Libya, Italo Balbo builds schools, hospitals and government buildings in Libya.

Resistance in Tunisia.

1934- the Tunisian socialist Neo-Destour party led by Habib Bourguiba becomes the focus of opposition to French colonial rule, demanding an incremental process of liberation.

1930s- -the nationalist Istiqlas movement rises in Moroccan cities. But French administrator Marshal Lyautey keeps the rebel movement in check.

-Italy sends 40,000 colonists to the plateau region of Libya.

World War II- German-Allied struggle for Libya.

1939- Libya becomes an Italian province.

1940-45- British and French fight Germans for control of Libya. Alergia is ruled by the Vichy government.

1940- Moroccan rebels encouraged by France’s defeat by Nazi Germany

-1942- birth of Muammar Ghaddafi to a tribe in the central Sirtic Desert.

1943- Libya placed under British-French military rule.

June 3- DeGaulle sets up the Committee of National Liberation on Algiers

1943 -French and Anglo-American forces liberate Tunisia from German occupation.

Colonialism Reasserts Itself.

-French colonists in Tunisia insist on reasserting control.

1944- in Morocco the Istiqlas movement is made official.

1947- Italy concedes all claims to Libya. Algerian nationalists are promised full political rights. But France’s fourth republic is too weak to force conservative Algerian colonists to live up to the commitment. Moreover, the military commanders also side with the colonists.

Libyan Indepedence

1951- Libya becomes an independent kingdom with a constitution. The Emir of Cyrencia (east, coastal Libya) Muhammad Idris al Sanusi (the Sunusi brotherhood) is proclaimed King Idris I but he is not popular in Tripolitana. Poor in natural resources, Libya is dependent on the US and Britian for economic aid.

1952- in elections, Libya's government candidates win 44 out of 55 seats because of strength in rural areas, or 80 per cent of the country because tribal leaders advise their people to vote for their traditionalist Sanusi king. The pan-Arab National Congress Party cries foul. The NCP, backed by Nasser, launches protests but King Idris exiles their leadership.

1952-1962- King Idris provides Libya with stable rule through consultation with tribes. However, nearly bereft of natural resources, Libya relies on foreign aid from Brtiain and the US.

Renewed Anti-Colonial Resistance

1953- the Moroccan Sultan Ibn Yusuf is deported by France to Madagascar because of his alleged support of the Isliqlas nationalism movement.

1953-54- Libya allows the US and Britain to establish bases provided they pay an annual subsidy and train the Libyan military.

The Franco-Algerian War.

1954-62- in response to brutal repression, the guerilla forces of the Algerian FLN wage war against French occupation. The country is destroyed; the colonists take most of their wealth with them to France.

-Boumerdas and Tizi Ouzou, in the Berber region of Kabylia in eastern Algeria is a center of resistance.

-under Ben Bella- the farms of emigrated Algerian colonists are nationalized and ruled through peasant autonomy.

Tunisian Autonomy.

1954- after growing unrest, France grants autonomy to Tunisia.

1955- Istiqlas nationalists start a guerrilla war in Morocco.

Moroccan Independence.

1956- Feb 18- France grants Morocco independence. Sultan Ibn Yusuf returns and is made King Muhammad V. Muhammad gets broad popular backing in wielding absolute power to develop industry and exploit mineral resources.

-after imprisoning Tunsian Habib Bourguiba, the French government under Mendes France decides he is a moderate compared to other Arab leaders and allows him to run for president.

1956- an American prospecter makes the first discovery of oil in Libya.

Tunisian Independence.

1956- Tunisia becomes independent from France. The monarchy is abolished. Habib Bourguiba becomes Prime Minister.

1956- Morocco becomes independent from French and Spanish protectorates.

1957- Morocco occupies the Western Sahara.

1957- Tunisia becomes a republic as Habib Bourguiba is elected president.

1959- oil wells developed in Libya.

1961- Hassan II succeeds to the throne of Morocco. He is also prime minister.

Algerian Independence.

1962- Algeria gains independence from France. Ahmed Ben Bella is the first president of the republic.

-in Libya, rapid modernization, centralization of the formerly decentralized state and the vote for women alienates many Muslims.

1962- Bouguiba succeeds in getting the French to withdraw their military bases from Tunisia.

1963- after a history of conflict between its three regions, Libya changes from a federal state to a unitary state.

-Libyans turn against King Idris for being to biased toward the West.

1964- -King Idris dissolves Libyan parliament

1964-66- Anglo-Libyan treaty ends and British troops are withdrawn from Libya.

1965- King Idris rigs May elections.

Algeria's Boumedienne

1965- the Algerian government of Ben Bella is overthrown in a coup d’etat by Houari Boumedienne who maintains a dictatorship until 1974.

-under Boumedienne, Algerian peasant self-government is abandoned because of low productivity. Boumedienne shifts his socialist economic policy to nationalization and industrialization. Islamic and Arabic religious and cultural identity is promoted. Nevertheless Algeria remains economically dependent on France, where many Algerians are working.

Moroccan Dictatorship

1965- after riots in Casablanca, Hassan II of Morocco, declares a royal dictatorship.

Libya and Ghaddafi.

1966- under the rule of king Idriss, Libya is making $500 million annually, while the oil revenue increases popular expectations yet fails to provide jobs or an improved standard of living for any but the wealthiest.

Young Libyans, alienated from traditional society, are educated in Egyptian, Syrian and Iraqi Pan Arab Socialism by teachers imported from the Middle East. However the older generation associates socialism, democracy and any sort of modernism with the destructive Italian occupation of 1911-1943 which all but destroyed the country.
-1969- at least four coups plotted against Libya's King Idriss.
1969- Spet 1, 1969- Colonel Ghaddafi and the Free Unionist Officers take power in a bloodless coup and rule with the Revolutionary Command Council. The 1951 constitution is ended. Gaddafi appeals sucessfully to anti-Communist, anti-capitalist, pro-Islam Arab nationalism. He embraces international, Islamist causes and supports terror operations in Lebanon, Egypt and Chad.

-Ghaddafi concentrates power in the Revolitionary Command Council (RCC) composed of the 12 Free Unionist Officers closest to Ghaddafi- all are under 30. Alcohol is banned, night clubs closed and alll Roman script in public places replaced with Arabic. All Jews and the remaining 30,000 Italians are expelled from the country.

-after oil companies refuse to give Libya a controlling 51% share but fail to bribe Libyan negotiators or agree on a united front, Ghaddafi nationalizes foreign-owned industries; provides free health care, minimum wage, the right to work and an education system. Grass roots local committees provide an illusion of populist democracy. He is socialist but anti-communist.

-Ghadaffi is oriented toward the Middle East rather than North Africa and forms close ties with Egypt and Syria.

1969-1970- Ghaddafi resists military coups launched against him.

-British and US bases are closed and Britain and the US withdraw all personnel and material.
-Libya and Algeria join forces to confront the big oil companies.

1970-72- Ghaddafi is prime minister of Libya.

Hassan II's Authoritarianism in Morocco.

1970- Hassan II of Morocco reforms the constitution but still hangs on to his supreme religious and political authority.

1971-1972- continued poverty and royal absolutism lead to unsuccessful attempted coups against Morocco’s Hassan II.

1970s- foreign military stations closed down in Libya. Ghaddafi promotes Islam andArab unity.

-Ghadaffi supports dictator Idi Amin of Uganda as a fellow Muslim.

1973- terrorist attacks against Moroccan government.

Ghaddafi's Arab Nationalism.

1973- 15 August- Ghadaffi, disgusted with corruption and luxury arising from Libyan oil wealth, launches the Libyan Zwara “cultural revolution” to entrench socialist and Muslim values. Islamic law is imposed. Ba'ath, Communist and all foreign parties are banned. Populace is armed to protect the Revolution. A purge is carried out of the old ruling elite while the bureaucracy is "returned to the people."

Oct- Libya contributes troops and supplies to the Arab cause in the Yom Kippur war against Israel.

1974- with all opposition having been outlawed, Tunsian President Habib Bourguiba declared president for life. However, state control over education and the economy brings stability and increased rights for women.

- May 7- Libya's Gadaffi calls for the creation of Popular Committes to foment the revolution in every community.

-May 14- Gadaffi announces his Third Universal Theory- a traditional Islamic, Libyan Bedouin middle way between Capitalism and Communism advocating communal values for a government modelled on the age-old autonomous Bedouin council. He is the first and only leader in the Maghreb to appeal to indigenous traditions.

1974- Algerian President Boumedienne holds elections. He is declared president by a new constitution.

1975- the former Spanish Sahara comes under joint control of Morocco, Mauritania and Spain. The southern area, Tiris al Gharbia, is shared by Mauritania and Morocco.

-the Algerian economy is increasingly dependent on oil.

-Ghadaffi survives another attempted coup.

1976- January- 187 Popular Committees established in Libya. Each sends three members to attend the First General Congress of the Socialist ppular Libyan Arab Jamahiriya ("rule by the masses"). Property sharing is promoted, multiple ownership of property is ooutlawed. Profit-sharing replaces wages.Major dealerships, retail and grocery operations are all nationalized. The only weakness is the RCC's control of alll vital institutions from oil to security and the military- contrary to popular soverignty. The RCC meanwhile has shrunk to Ghaddafi, Colonel Jalloud, Colonel Mustafa Kharroubi, Colonel Khweldi Homei, and military chi8ef, Colonel Abu Bakr Younis.

Polisario Conflict with Morocco over Western Sahara.

1976- the Spanish Sahara is re-named the Western Sahara. The Algeria-based Polisario Front sets up a government in exile. The Polisario calls the disputed region The Saharan Arab Democratic Republic.

-Tunisian government’s refusal to legalize opposition parties causes political unrest and provokes the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in the 1970s and 1980s.

1976-80- Hassan II deploys a large army to block Polisaro forces from infiltrating Morocco’s western border. Despite military backing from the U.S., he is unable to contol the Western Sahara.

1979- The Polisario, an Algerian-backed liberation front in the Western Sahara forces Mauretania to withdraw. Morocco becomes responsible for the Spanish Sahara despite an independence movement there which is not recognized by Morocco.

1979- Algerian President Chadi Benjedid succeeds Boumedienne.

1980- Ghaddafi launches a campaign of assassination against Libyan dissidents in Europe.

1981- a drop in the price of oil increases the burden of Algeria’s foreign debt. Boumedienne’s successor Chadli is forced to adopt market-oriented economic reforms and austerity measures.

1982- in response to Libyan support for international terrorism, the US bans Libyan oil imports.

Fundamentalism Emerges in Tunisia.

1983-84- Islamic Fundamentalists riot against Tunisian president Bourguiba. His influence is reduced.

1984- urban unrest prompts Hassan II of Morocco to appoint a coalition government of national unity under a civilian prime minister.

-the war in the Western Sahara puts increasing strain on the Moroccan economy throughout the 1980s.

1984- UK accuses Libya of the murder of a police officer in London and severs relations.

-Ghaddafi invades northern Chad for its alleged uranium reserves. But his offensive fails.

1986- Libyan terrorists accused in the bombing of a US forces night club in Germany. President Reagan orders the bombing of Benghazi and Tripoli in an attempt to kill Gaddafi.

Fundamentalism in Tunisia.

1987- due to political unrest, Tunisian president Bourguiba, on grounds of senility, is deposed by his prime minister, Ben Ali. Ben Ali attempts to bring in multi-party politics. But political liberalization is slowed down by resistance from Islamic fundamentalists.

1988- reforms made in the Tunisian constitution to allow opposition parties some minimal representation in the legislature.

1988- The UN decides that the Sahrawi people of Western Sahara should hold a referendum on independence under the Polisario or rule by Morocco.

1988- a Pan Am jet, later found to be rigged with explosives by Libyan agents, explodes and comes down over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing all aboard.

Fundamentalism in Algeria.

-in Algeria the official policy of economic and cultural nationalism fails as Chadli’s austerity measures provoke an Islamic fundamentalist backlash.

1989- in Algeria, Chadli changes the constitution to allow for political parties including the Islamist Islamic Salvation Front- despite their vow to destroy the existing order.

1989- two Libyan fighter jets shot down by warplanes from US aircraft carrier off the North African coast.

-internal and external pressures cause Ghaddafi to withdraw from Chad, allow private enterprise, withdraw support from terror groups and hand over evidence to Britain that he gave support to the IRA.

-Ghaddafi continues building chemical weapons.

The Maghreb Union

1989- the Maghreb Union is founded in Marrakesh, Morocco- with Hassan II, Chadli of Ageria, Zine of Tunisia, Gaddafi of Libya and Sidi Ahmed of Mauritania.

1990- first Maghreb Union summit in Tunis.

-second Maghredb Union Summit in Algiers calls for the princiuple of a customs union.

1990- December- a general strike in Morocco.

-Ghaddafi condemns Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait.

Crackdown on Islamists in Libya.

- Ghaddafi’s increasing moderation causes him to imprison 2,000 Islamist radicals.

1991- UN-brokered ceasefire between the Polisario and Morocco.

Islamists Garner Most Votes in Algerian Eelections.

1991- in Algerian elections, the Islamic Salvation front wins almost half the seats in parliament desppite only 25% of the popular vote and Chadli resigns, giving way to a 5-member transitional state council.

Islamic Insurgency in Algeria.

-an Algerian Islamic insurgency started in 1992 after authorities cancelled elections an Islamist party was poised to win.

1992- February-9- Algeria’s State Council bans the Islamic Salvation Front.

-1992-1999- Algerian civil war between Islamists and the government takes 100,000 lives.

1992- UN imposes sanctions against Libya after it refuses to extradite two Libyans accused in the bombing which brought down a Pan AM passenger plane over Lockerbie, Scotland.

1992- clashes in Algeria between government forces and guerillas of the Islamic Salvation Front. The civil war will last throughout most of the 1990s.

-Libya suffers from UN sanctions, despite its oil wealth.

1994- Tunisian president Ben Ali is re-elected; further constitutional reforms are brought in. However the threat from Islamic fundamentalists is handled by imprisoning them.
Ben Ali promotes Tunisian cultural nationalism against continued French influence.

1995- Morocco- a referendum brings about the formation of a bicameral legislature.

Founding of GSPC.

1998- the G.S.P.C. is created as an offshoot of the Armed Islamic Group (GIA), which along with other Islamist guerrilla forces fought a brutal decade-long civil war after the Algerian military canceled elections in early 1992 because an Islamist party was poised to win. The group is founded by Hassan Hattab, a former Armed Islamic Group (GIA) regional commander after breaking with the GIA in in protest over the GIA's slaughter of civilians.

1999- April 5- in a compromise with Ghaddafi, the Lockerbie suspects are handed over under Scottish law for trial at the international criminal tribunal at the Hague. UN sanctions against Libya are lifted.

End of Civil War in Algeria.

1999- Abdul Aziz Bouteflika is elected president despite withdrawal of all other candidates in protest of unfair elections; with approval by referendum, he declares an amnesty with the Islamic Salvation Front and promotes reconciliation, bringing an end to the civil conflict in Algeria.

-many former Algerian GIA fighters lay down their arms, but a few remain active, including members of the GSPC.

1999- Hassan II of Morocco dies and is succeeded by Mohammed VI.

-Mohammed VI brings about reform and reconciliation and allows opposition leaders to return to Morocco. He dismisses Driss Basri, Hassan’s Minister for Domestic Affairs.

2000- Islamist attacks continue in Algeria, despite amnesty.

2000- African immigrant workers killed by Libyan mobs

2001- Lockerbie trial in the Netherlands results in one conviction.

-various countries including the US begin to do business with Libya again. Thus Libya avoided being a target in the War on Terror.

-Morocco: Mohammed IV’s reforms in such matters as women’s rights, prompt a backlash from Islamic fundamentalists.

2001-May- Algerian Berbers in Kabylie are killed by police while protesting police brutality. Later in the year the government gives official status to the Berber language.
The main Berber party withdraws from the government in protest.

2002- US and Libya hold reconciliation talks.

Beginning of post- 9-11 Sucide Attacks

2003- May 16- 5 suicide blasts in Casablanca hitting Jewish and Spanish targets.

June- Abassi, Madani leader of Algeria’s Islamic Salvation Front freed from prison.

-Libya elected to chair the UN Human Rights Commission.

August- Libya takes responsibility for the Lockerbie bombing and compensates families of the victims, promises to halt programs for weapons of mass destruction.

GSPC mass kidnapping in Algeria.

2003- a G.S.P.C. leader in southern Algeria kidnaps 32 European tourists, some of whom are released for a ransom of 5 million euros (about $6.5 million at current exchange rates), paid by Germany. Officials say the leader, Amari Saifi, bought weapons and recruited fighters before the United States military helped corner and catch him in 2004. He is now serving a life sentence in Algeria.

Moroccan Connection to Madrid Train Bombing.

2004- March 11- suicide bombing of train in Madrid kills 191, injures over 1,000. Lengthy investigation concludes that cells did not come from any well known Islamist group but from Morrocaan hash-smuggling rings previously connected with an Al Qaeda group which became defunct.

-April- Algerian President Boutelika re-elected in a landslide.

June- Abdelmalik Droukdel announces his arrival with a truck bomb at the Algeria’s most important electrical production facility and focuses on associating the GSPC with Al Qaeda. . “The Algerian military says he cut his teeth in the 1990s as a member of the Armed Islamic Group’s feared Ahoual or “horror” company, blamed for some of the most gruesome massacres of Algeria’s civil war.” NYT

-GSPC (al-Qaeda-linked Salafist Group for Call and Combat) declares war on all foreign nationals and interests in Algeria.

- British P.M. Tony Blair visits Libya.

-5 Bulgarian nurses imprisoned in Libya for infecting chidren with HIV.

GSPCmounts attacks in Mauretania.

2005- June – an “attack against a military barrack in Mauritania, executed by Khaled Abul Abbas, chief of the GSPC in the Sahara came as part of this tendency, according to well informed sources. Al-Qaeda was interminably giving guidelines to the Salafist Group since 9/11 attacks.” (ALGERIA EVENTS)

-June-- “Indications that a cross-border alliance was under way came…when the G.S.P.C. attacked a military outpost in Mauritania, killing 15 soldiers. The attackers fled into Mali, according to the United States military.” NYT

End of GIA.

-Nourredine Boudiafi, head of Algeria’s Armed Islamc Group, is arrested, ending the groups effective existence.

September 2005- “the Center for Strategic and International Studies estimated that 600 Algerians were fighting as foreign jihadists in Iraq. At the time, this was believed to be 20 percent of the total strength of the foreign insurgents in Iraq -- the largest of any single group.” -STRATFOR

-Algerian government promises Berbers language rights and capital invesment.

2005- Libya opened to international oil exploration and investment.

GSPC links up, merges with Al Qaeda.

Dec 8- the extremist Algerian Salafist Group for Call and Combat (GSPC) plans to set up an Al-Qaeda branch in the Maghreb countries as a base for attacks to be launched on the countries that support US administration.

2006- January- Al Qaeda in the Maghreb is officially formed from the Algerian GSPC, the Moroccan GICM (responsible for the Casablanca and Madrid bombings in 2003 and 2004 respectively), and other Tunisian elements.

2006- February- Libyans riot against Danish newspaper cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.

Al Qaeda in the Maghreb.

Sept 11- Ayman Zawahiri of Al Qaeda announces the formation of Al Qaeda in the Maghreb.

2006- 6 month Algerian amnesty for Islamists.

2006- May- US begins restoring full diplomatic relations with Libya.

-Algeria, recovering economically, commits itself to paying back its $8 billion national debt.

-September, Rabah Kebir, leader of the Islamic Salvation front, returns to Algeria and urges Islamist militants to disarm.

Dec 10- Algeria- bus bombed carrying foreign oil workers.

2006-2007- Libya’s Gaddafi joins Egypt and Sudan in several attempts at a peace settlement in Darfur.

December- 5 Bulgarian nurses and Palestinian doctor accused of inflecting children with HIV sentenced to life imprisonment.

Dec 2006 to January 2007- (Dec. 23, Jan 3) Algerian Salafist groups engage Tunisian police and army units with 14 terrorists and some police killed.

-Libya cuts the government labour force and moves to stimulate private enterprise.

Al Qaeda in the Sahel.

February- news reports point to Al Qaeda training camps in the Sahel from Senegal to Ethiopia with plans to attack targets in Europe.

Feb 13- GSPC claims responsibility for car bombings in Boumerdas and Tizi Ouzou, on the Berber region of Kabylia in eastern Algeria. (This was a center of resistance during the Algerian war).

-Feb 16 - in the mountain retion of Qashra near the town of Skikda, Alergian police kill 26 and arrest 35 militants in response to the Feb 13 car bombings.

Al Qaeda in the Maghreb present in Morocco.

Feb 20- Moroccan police search for Hmam Bilal et Bel Hachmi and Mohamed Rida who are accused of having ties with groups including the Algeria-based al Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb,

March 4- Algeria- bus carrying Algerian and Russian gas-line workers bombed- killing 3 Algerians and a Russian.

March 11- suicide bombing in Casablanca internet cafe.

April 10- three suicide blasts kill and wound police in raid on Casablanca safe house.

April 11- Algiers- bombings of the police station and prime minister’s office claim 17 lives. Claimed by Al Qaeda.

April 14- two suicide bombings on US diplomatic offices in Casablanca.

June 11- suicide truck bomb kills soldiers at military barracks near Algiers. GSPC claims responsibility.

July- the Bulgarian nurses and the doctor have death sentences in Libya commuted to life. Under a deal with the European Union, they are all repatriated.

Sept 6- suicide blast kills twenty prior to vistit of President Boutefilka near Algiers.

Sept 8- GSPC claims responsibility for bombing of military barracks, killing 37 at Dellys, Algeria.

Oct 7- Zareg Zoheir, mastermind of GSPC suicide bombings killed by Algerian police.

Dec 11- 67 killed in suicide blasts at Constitutional Court and UN offices in Algiers.

Dec 25- French tourists killed by gunman in Mauretania.

2008- Jan 2- suicide attack near police station in Algiers.

January - Libya takes one-month of the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council in a move toward respectability after years as a pariah of the West.

Feb 1- gun attack on Israeli embassy in Nouakshott, Mauretania.

March- heavy fighting in eastern Algeria between GSPC and Algerian army.

April- Spanish police arrest 2 Moroccans in 2003 Casablanca bombings.

June 6- roadside bomb kills 6 soldiers in Algeria.

June 8- double suicide blast in Algerian train station.

July 14- leader of GCPC in Algeria killed in police raid.

2008 July 18, Tunisia- 2 officials and three others were convicted of terrorist activities conspiring to overthrow the government.

Aug 19- Les Issers, Algeria- 43 killed in suicide bombing at police academy.

August - Libya and US sign agreement committing both to compensation of victims in bomb attacks on the other's citizens.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi apologises to Libya for damage inflicted by Italy during the colonial era and signs a five billion dollar investment deal by way of compensation.

Aug 20- double car-bomb attack on Bouira, Algeria, kills workers from a Canadian eater treatment project.

2008 Aug 23, A Tunisian court convicts 13 Islamic militants for planning to carry out attacks in Tunisia. 6 more ae convicted on Aug 26 for setting up a guerilla training base in Tunisia's Kef region for sending fighters to Iraq.

September, 2008 - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice makes the highest-level American visit to Libya since 1953. Ms Rice annojunce a new phase of relations between the US and Libya.

November - US Lockerbie victims' group anniunce full payment of compensation from Libya. Restoration of diplomatic relations posisble with United States.

Nov- three Tunisians prosecuted in Milan for their part in an Italy-based European terror network.

2009- Feburary- Tuinisia- a German who attacked Djerba synagogue in 2002 is sentenced by a French court to 18 yerars.

February - Gaddafi elected chairman of the African Union at meetiung of leaders in Ethiopia. He speaks of a "United States of Africa" even embracing the Caribbean.

June - Gaddafi pays his first state visit to Italy, Libya's former colonial ruler and now its main trading partner.

July- Tunisia- nine men, including two airforce officers, charged with plotting to kill US troops during joint mmilitary exercise.

August - Scotland frees jailed Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi on compassionate grounds and returns him to Libya. His release and return to a hero's welcome sturs up controversy.

September - Libyan celebrations mark 40 years since Colonel Muammar Gaddafi seizure of power.

Oct- Tunisia- President Ben Ali elected to a fifth term in office. Warns of legal consequences if the vote is questioned.

Nov- Tunisia- a journalist is jailed for assualt. Taoufik Ben Brik had written critically of the president. Human rights groups say the charge is politically motivated..

December - Diplomatic row between Switzerland and European Union after Gaddafi's son is held in Switzerland on charges of mistreating domestic workers.

2010- January - Russia agrees to sell weapons to Libya in a deal worth $1.8bn in fighter jets, tanks and air defence systems.

June - UN refugee agency UNHCR expelled from Libya.

July - US senators demand inquiry into suspicions that oil giant BP lobbied for release of Libya's Lockerbie bomber.

BP confirms plans to drill soon off Libyan coast.

- July- Tunisia- Fahem Boukadous's appeal upholds his jail sentence for coverage of violent protests.

October - European Union signs an agreement with Libya to slow illegal migration.

November - Group of journalists arrested in apparent power struggle within ruling elite. Gaddafi later orders them freed.

December - WikiLeaks releases US diplmatic cable suggesting that Gaddafi was prepared to cut trade with Britain if Lockerbie bomber died in jail.

Dec- Tunisia- protests against lack of political freedom and against unemployment become nation wide.

Jan- 2011- Tunisia- demonstrators say police killed at least 50 protesters as demonstrations continue. Government llays the blame on Islamist and left-wing "extremists," reducing the number to 21 killed. Authorities close educational institutions and bring out troop in Tunis to contain demonstrations while promising economic and social reforms. President Ben Ali fires interior minister Rafik Belhaj Kacem, has most of the protestors released and sets up a special committee to investigate corruption.

-Ben Ali flees country ahead of massive protrests.

-Pime Minister Mohammed Ghanoucchi annunces a national unity government, not fully satisfying protestors.

-Ghanouchhi briefly occupies the presidency before a constitutional deciomn kis made for lower house leader Fouad Mebazza to become interim president.

Jan 22- Algeria- sparked by the revolt on Tunisia along with rising prices and unemployment, demonstrators marching on Algiers where met police who opened fire, killing over a dozen.

Jan 26- Morocco- a fourth Moroccan sets himself on fire, in a series of suicide attempts inspired by the self-immolation that set Tunisia's revolution in motion.

February - Arrest of human rights campaigner sparks off violent protests in east Libyan city of Benghazi.

-the east Libya city of Bengazi resists government violence and falls to the protesters.

-Libya's Bengazi protest spreads to Tripoli as part of the military turns against Ghadaffi and Ghadaffi uses tanks, planes and mercenaries against protesters.

Libya on the Verge of Civil War

2011-02-21T19:13:00.000-08:00

HISTORY IN THE NEWS:

DEDICATED TO THE ORIGINS OF CONTEMPORARY EVENTS AROUND THE WORLD.

IN THE NEWS: AFTER LIBYA'S MAIN EASTERN CITY, BENGHAZI, FALLS TO THE OPPOSITION WITH SUPPORT FROM TRIBES HOSTILE TO THOSE OF COLONEL GHADDAFI, THE UPRISING HAS NOW SPREAD TO TRIPOLI. IN TRIPOLI, ELEMENTS OF THE MILITARY HAVE TURNED AGAINST GHADAFFI'S RULING ELITE. IN RESPONSE, THE GOVERNMENT HAS DIRECTED AIR AND ARTILLERY STRIKES AGAINST DEMONSTRATORS AND SENT IN MERCENARIES WITH THE DEAD BELIEVED TO EXCEED 300.

RELEVANT DATES FOR THE 2011 LIBYAN UPRISING:

Colonel Ghaddafi's Coup D'Etat.
-1969- at least four coups plotted against Libya's King Idriss.

-1969- Sept 1, 1969- Colonel Ghaddafi and the Free Unionist Officers take power in a bloodless coup and rules with the Revolutionary Command Council. The 1951 constitution is ended. Gaddafi appeals sucessfully to anti-Communist, anti-capitalist, pro-Islam Arab nationalism. He embraces international, Islamist causes and supports terror operations in Lebanon, Egypt and Chad.
Ghaddafi nationalizes and Purifies Libya.

-Ghaddafi concentrates power in the Revolitionary Command Council (RCC) composed of the 12 Free Unionist Officers closest to Ghaddafi- all are under 30. Alcohol is banned, night clubs closed and alll Roman script in public places replaced with Arabic. All Jews and the remaining 30,000 Italians are expelled from the country.

-after oil companies refuse to give Libya a controlling 51% share but fail to bribe Libyan negotiators or agree on a united front, Ghaddafi nationalizes foreign-owned industries; provides free health care, minimum wage, the right to work and an education system. Grass roots local committees provide an illusion of populist democracy. He is socialist but anti-communist.

-Ghadaffi is oriented toward the Middle East rather than North Africa and forms close ties with Egypt and Syria.
Ghaddafi Consolidates his Position Within and Without.

1969-1970- Ghaddafi resists military coups launched against him.

-British and US bases are closed and Britain and the US withdraw all personnel and material.
-Libya and Algeria join forces to confront the big oil companies.

1970-72- Ghaddafi is prime minister of Libya.

1970s- foreign military stations closed down in Libya. Ghaddafi promotes Islam andArab unity.

-Ghadaffi supports dictator Idi Amin of Uganda as a fellow Muslim.
Ghaddafi's Arab Nationalism.

1973- 15 August- Ghadaffi, disgusted with corruption and luxury arising from Libyan oil wealth, launches the Libyan Zwara “cultural revolution” to entrench socialist and Muslim values. Islamic law is imposed. Ba'ath, Communist and all foreign parties are banned. Populace is armed to protect the Revolution. A purge is carried out of the old ruling elite while the bureaucracy is "returned to the people."

Oct- Libya contributes troops and supplies to the Arab cause in the Yom Kippur war against Israel.
- May 7- Libya's Gadaffi calls for the creation of Popular Committes to foment the revolution in every community.
Ghaddafi's Third Universal Theory- the Bedouin Way.

-May 14- Gadaffi announces his Third Universal Theory- a traditional Islamic, Libyan Bedouin middle way between Capitalism and Communism advocating communal values for a government modelled on the age-old autonomous Bedouin council. He is the first and only leader in the Maghreb to appeal to indigenous traditions.
1975-Ghadaffi survives another attempted coup.

1976- January- 187 Popular Committees established in Libya. Each sends three members to attend the First General Congress of the Socialist popular Libyan Arab Jamahiriya ("rule by the masses"). Property sharing is promoted, multiple ownership of property is ooutlawed. Profit-sharing replaces wages.Major dealerships, retail and grocery operations are all nationalized.
Power Narrows to the Revolutionary Command Council.
The only weakness is the RCC's control of alll vital institutions from oil to security and the military- contrary to popular soverignty. The RCC meanwhile has shrunk to Ghaddafi, Colonel Jalloud, Colonel Mustafa Kharroubi, Colonel Khweldi Homei, and military chief, Colonel Abu Bakr Younis.
Libya's Growing War with the West.

1980- Ghaddafi launches a campaign of assassination against Libyan dissidents in Europe.
1982- in response to Libyan support for international terrorism, the US bans Libyan oil imports.

1984- UK accuses Libya of the murder of a police officer in London and severs relation

-Ghaddafi invades northern Chad for its alleged uranium reserves. But his offensive fails.
US President Reagan Avenges Libyan Terror Attack.

1986- Libyan terrorists accused in the bombing of a US forces night club in Germany. President Reagan orders the bombing of Benghazi and Tripoli in an attempt to kill Gaddafi.
Lockernie Plane Bombing.
1988- Libyan terrorists pant explosive, causing crash of Pan Am Flight 103 on Lockerbie, Scotland, killing all on board and many on the ground.

1989- two Libyan fighter jets shot down by warplanes from US aircraft carrier off the North African coast.

-internal and external pressures cause Ghaddafi to withdraw from Chad, allow private enterprise, withdraw support from terror groups and hand over evidence to Britain that he gave support to the IRA.

-Ghaddafi continues building chemical weapons.

1989- the Maghreb Union is founded in Marrakesh, Morocco- with Hassan II, Chadli of Ageria, Zine of Tunisia, Gaddafi of Libya and Sidi Ahmed of Mauritania.

-Ghaddafi condemns Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait.

Crackdown on Islamists in Libya.

-Ghaddafi’s increasing moderation causes him to imprison 2,000 Islamist radicals.

1992- UN imposes sanctions against Libya after it refuses to extradite two Libyans accused in the bombing which brought down a Pan AM passenger plane over Lockerbie, Scotland.

-Libya suffers from UN sanctions, despite its oil wealth.
Ghaddafi Compromises Over Lockerbie Terror Bombing

1999- April 5- in a compromise with Ghaddafi, the Lockerbie suspects are handed over under Scottish law for trial at the international criminal tribunal at the Hague. UN sanctions against Libya are lifted
2001- Lockerbie trial in the Netherlands results in one conviction.

-various countries including the US begin to do business with Libya again. Thus Libya avoided being a target in the War on Terror.

2002- US and Libya hold reconciliation talks.
Libya begins Reconciliation with the West.

-Libya elected to chair the UN Human Rights Commission.
August- Libya takes responsibility for the Lockerbie bombing and compensates families of the victims, promises to halt programs for weapons of mass destruction.
2004- British P.M. Tony Blair visits Libya.
-5 Bulgarian nurses imprisoned in Libya for infecting chidren with HIV.

2005- Libya opened to international oil exploration and investment.

2006- February- Libyans riot against Danish newspaper cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.

May- US begins restoring full diplomatic relations with Libya.

2006-2007- Libya’s Gaddafi joins Egypt and Sudan in several attempts at a peace settlement in Darfur.
December- 5 Bulgarian nurses and Palestinian doctor accused of inflecting children with HIV sentenced to life imprisonment.
2007- Libya cuts the government labour force and moves to stimulate private enterprise.

July- the Bulgarian nurses and the doctor have death sentences in Libya commuted to life. Under a deal with the European Union, they are all repatriated.
2008- January - Libya takes one-month of the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council in a move toward respectability after years as a pariah of the West.
Libya Pays Compensation for Terror Attacks.
August - Libya and US sign agreement committing both to compensation of victims in bomb attacks on the other's citizens.

September, 2008 - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice makes the highest-level American visit to Libya since 1953. Ms Rice annojunce a new phase of relations between the US and Libya.

November - US Lockerbie victims' group anniunce full payment of compensation from Libya. Restoration of diplomatic relations posisble with United States.
2009- February - Gaddafi elected chairman of the African Union at meetiung of leaders in Ethiopia. He speaks of a "United States of Africa" even embracing the Caribbean.

June - Gaddafi pays his first state visit to Italy, Libya's former colonial ruler and now its main trading partner.

September - Libyan celebrations mark 40 years since Colonel Muammar Gaddafi seizure of power.

2010- BP confirms plans to drill soon off Libyan coast.

October - European Union signs an agreement with Libya to slow illegal migration.
Internal Power Struggle Presages Uprising.

November - Group of journalists arrested in apparent power struggle within ruling elite. Gaddafi later orders them freed.

December - WikiLeaks releases US diplmatic cable suggesting that Ghaddafi was prepared to cut trade with Britain if Lockerbie bomber died in jail.
Uprising Against Ghaddafi.
2011-February - Arrest of human rights campaigner sparks off violent protests in east Libyan city of Benghazi.

-the east Libya city of Bengazi resists government violence and falls to the protesters.

-Libya's Bengazi protest spreads to Tripoli as part of the military turns against Ghadaffi and Ghadaffi uses tanks, planes and mercenaries against protesters.
TIMELINE FOR THE MAGHREB- MOROCCO, TUNISIA, ALGERIA AND LIBYA.
Thanks to BBC for items after 2000.

Phoenicians

1150 BC- north Coast of Morocco is inhabited by Phoenicians.

-Phoenicians rule Libya,

975-715 BC- the Libyans invade and conquer Egypt.

Greeks, Carthaginians

375 BC -Greeks rule coastal Libya

560 BC- Carthage in present-day Tunisia.

192 BC- Libya and Algeria ruled by the Kingdom of Numidia. Carthage reduced to Tunisia.
Morocco ruled by the Kingdom of Mauretania.

Rome

145 BC- Rome rules Carthage in present day Tunisia.

74 BC- Rome rules most of Numidia (Libya)

44 BC-14 AD- resistance against Rome in Mauretania.

67- Rome controls the entire coastal Maghreb from Egypt to the Atlantic.

-Rome rules Algeria as a province of the empire- Berbers pushed back into interior.

Vandals and Byzantines.

400-Vandals rule coastal Maghreb from Libya up to Roman Morocco.

-Vandals rule Algeria

500- Kingdom of the Vandals in Libya, Algeria.

525-565- Justinian takes coastal Libya, Algeria and Tunia for the Byzantine Empire.

-Byzantines rule Libya.

Arabs- The Muslim Invasions.

-647-698- Arabs conquer Libyan Tripolitania, Cyrencia and Dezzan for Islam.

-700s- Muslim conquest of Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco.

-740- revolts in the Maghreb against Umayyad taxation.

Morocco.

-788-964- Idris launches a failed Shia rebellion in Arabia, flees to Morocco. Arab Shia Idrisids founded by Idris I (a descendant of Ali) rule Morocco.

-Idris II of Morocco founds Fez.

-808- Fez, Morocco, an important political and cultural center.

Tunis

-800-909- the Aghlabids in Tunisia gain idependence from the Abbasids. The Aghlabid Emirate in Tripolitania (Libya)

-the Rustamid Imamate in coastal Algeria.

-909- after a coup d’etat, the Shia Fatamids (who claimed descent from Mohammed daughter, Fatima) establish a dynasty in Tunisia.

-the Fatamids go on to conquer all of North Africa.

-1046-1147- The Almoravids

The Almohads of Morocco.

1130-1269- the Almohads of Morocco launch invasions in Spain to stop the Christian resurgence.

-Almohads spread Islam into sub-Saharan Africa.

Europe and the Ottoman Empire.

1434- Western Sahara discovered by Portugal.

1551- Ottomans conquer Libyan provinces of Tripolitania, Cyrencia .

1566- Algiers on Barbary Coast and Tunis controlled by the Habsburgs.

1574- Ottomans conquer Tunisia.

-Ottomans divide Libya into the regencies of Tripolitania, Tunisia and Algeria.

Tripolitania, piracy and war with Europe.

-pirates based in Tripoli prey on Christian shipping.

1620- (circa) Janissary military caste of slave soldiers sends out their own appointed Dey who often had more power than the provincial governors appointed by the Sultan.

1650- the entire Mediterranean and its coasts are controlled by the Ottomans, save for Morocco, Spain, France and Italy.

1711- the Janissary Ahmad Karamanli becomes Dey, kills the Ottoman governor of Tripolitania and and persuades the Ottomans to name him governor. The post of governor remains in the Karamanli family until 1835.

-the Karamanli Deys of Tripolitania extract heavy tribute from the Tripoli pirates and extend Ottoman rule into the interior.

1801-1805- war between the US and Tripoli about the amount of tribute US shipping should pay to the Dey for protection from pirates.

1815-1835 England, France, and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies successfully extirpate piracy, vastly reducing the tribute paid to the Dey of Tripolitania.

French Colonization.

1830- France sends colonists into Algeria.

1835- hereditary dynasty of the Karamanli Deys of Tripoli ends due to European extirpation of piracy which diminished tribute to the Karamanlis. Direct Ottoman rule is re-established.

1842- Ottomans conquer Libyan province of Fazzan.

-Tripolitania and Cyrencia are stable but politically and economically autonomous from Constantinople.

-the Sanusi brotherhood gains recruits from Cyrenaica, Tripolitania and Fazzan.

French rule of Northwest Africa.

1848- Algeria is annexed to France and given a French administrative structure, with departments- in Oran, Constantine and Algiers.

1870- most of Algeria is under French military control.

1881- Morocco becomes a French protectorate.

1881- Algeria formally becomes part of France.

1883- Tunisia, due to its strategic location at the center of the Mediterranean, becomes a French protectorate.

1884- the Western Sahara claimed as a protectorate by Spain.

Entente Cordiale

1904- Entente Cordiale- Morocco falls under French influence.

1902- France fully controls Algeria.

Italian Invasion of Tripoli

1911- Italy declares war on Turkey and occupies Tripoli. End of Ottoman rule.

1912- treaty of Ouchy- Italy gives autonomy to Tripoli and northern Libya. However fighting continues.

European Competition for Morocco.

-France intervenes in Morocco to put down a rebellion. Germany competes with France for influence in Morocco.

1912- most of Morocco is a French protectorate. The Treaty of Fez establishes French Morocco with a capital at Rabat and Spanish Morocco in the northern Rif area with a capital at Tetouan.

1914- Italy occupies most of Libya but becomes locked in a long war against the Sanusi and their allies.

1919- Algerians are without civil rights, save for a small elite given rights in return for renouncing their Islamic faith and customs. The French take the best land for agriculture, with Algerian peasants working the land for low wages.

-the French-educated Tunisian elite demand more political participation in their own affairs.

Resistance in Morocco.

1920-34 –rebel Abd al Krim leads resistance against Spanish, then French Morocco.

1923- International Zone created in Tangiers, Morocco.

Italy Creates Libya.

1934- Italy combines Tripolitania and Cyrenaica, naming the region Libya. Fazzan is part of Tripolitania.

-Italian governor of Libya, Italo Balbo builds schools, hospitals and government buildings in Libya.

Resistance in Tunisia.

1934- the Tunisian socialist Neo-Destour party led by Habib Bourguiba becomes the focus of opposition to French colonial rule, demanding an incremental process of liberation.

1930s- -the nationalist Istiqlas movement rises in Moroccan cities. But French administrator Marshal Lyautey keeps the rebel movement in check.

-Italy sends 40,000 colonists to the plateau region of Libya.

World War II- German-Allied struggle for Libya.

1939- Libya becomes an Italian province.

1940-45- British and French fight Germans for control of Libya. Alergia is ruled by the Vichy government.

1940- Moroccan rebels encouraged by France’s defeat by Nazi Germany

-1942- birth of Muammar Ghaddafi to a tribe in the central Sirtic Desert.

1943- Libya placed under British-French military rule.

June 3- DeGaulle sets up the Committee of National Liberation on Algiers

1943 -French and Anglo-American forces liberate Tunisia from German occupation.

Colonialism Reasserts Itself.

-French colonists in Tunisia insist on reasserting control.

1944- in Morocco the Istiqlas movement is made official.

1947- Italy concedes all claims to Libya. Algerian nationalists are promised full political rights. But France’s fourth republic is too weak to force conservative Algerian colonists to live up to the commitment. Moreover, the military commanders also side with the colonists.

1951- Libya becomes an independent kingdom with a constitution. The Emir of Cyrencia, Muhammad Idris al Sanusi (the Sunusi brotherhood) is proclaimed King Idris I. Poor in natural resources, Libya is dependent on the US and Britian for economic aid.

Renewed Anti-Colonial Resistance

1953- the Moroccan Sultan Ibn Yusuf is deported by France to Madagascar because of his alleged support of the Isliqlas nationalism movement.

1953-54- Libya allows the US and Britain to establish bases provided they pay an annual subsidy.

The Franco-Algerian War.

1954-62- in response to brutal repression, the guerilla forces of the Algerian FLN wage war against French occupation. The country is destroyed; the colonists take most of their wealth with them to France.

-Boumerdas and Tizi Ouzou, in the Berber region of Kabylia in eastern Algeria is a center of resistance.

-under Ben Bella- the farms of emigrated Algerian colonists are nationalized and ruled through peasant autonomy.

Tunisian Autonomy.

1954- after growing unrest, France grants autonomy to Tunisia.

1955- Istiqlas nationalists start a guerrilla war in Morocco.

Moroccan Independence.

1956- Feb 18- France grants Morocco independence. Sultan Ibn Yusuf returns and is made King Muhammad V. Muhammad gets broad popular backing in wielding absolute power to develop industry and exploit mineral resources.

-after imprisoning Tunsian Habib Bourguiba, the French government under Mendes France decides he is a moderate compared to other Arab leaders and allows him to run for president.

Tunisian Independence.

1956- Tunisia becomes independent from France. The monarchy is abolished. Habib Bourguiba becomes Prime Minister.

1956- Morocco becomes independent from French and Spanish protectorates.

1957- Morocco occupies the Western Sahara.

1957- Tunisia becomes a republic as Habib Bourguiba is elected president.

1959- oil discovered in Libya.

1961- Hassan II succeeds to the throne of Morocco. He is also prime minister.

Algerian Independence.

1962- Algeria gains independence from France. Ahmed Ben Bella is the first president of the republic.

-in Libya, rapid modernization, centralization of the formerly decentralized state and the vote for women alienates many Muslims.

1962- Bouguiba succeeds in getting the French to withdraw their military bases from Tunisia.

1963- after conflict between its three regions, Libya changed from a federal state to a unitary state.

1964-66- Anglo-Libyan treaty ends and British troops are withdrawn from Libya.

Algeria's Boumedienne

1965- the Algerian government of Ben Bella is overthrown in a coup d’etat by Houari Boumedienne who maintains a dictatorship until 1974.

-under Boumedienne, Algerian peasant self-government is abandoned because of low productivity. Boumedienne shifts his socialist economic policy to nationalization and industrialization. Islamic and Arabic religious and cultural identity is promoted. Nevertheless Algeria remains economically dependent on France, where many Algerians are working.

Moroccan Dictatorship

1965- after riots in Casablanca, Hassan II of Morocco, declares a royal dictatorship.

Libya and Ghaddafi.

-1969- at least four coups plotted against Libya's King Idriss.

1969- Spet 1, 1969- Colonel Ghaddafi and the Free Unionist Officers take power in a bloodless coup and rules with the Revolutionary Command Council. The 1951 constitution is ended. Gaddafi appeals sucessfully to anti-Communist, anti-capitalist, pro-Islam Arab nationalism. He embraces international, Islamist causes and supports terror operations in Lebanon, Egypt and Chad.

-Ghaddafi concentrates power in the Revolitionary Command Council (RCC) composed of the 12 Free Unionist Officers closest to Ghaddafi- all are under 30. Alcohol is banned, night clubs closed and alll Roman script in public places replaced with Arabic. All Jews and the remaining 30,000 Italians are expelled from the country.

-after oil companies refuse to give Libya a controlling 51% share but fail to bribe Libyan negotiators or agree on a united front, Ghaddafi nationalizes foreign-owned industries; provides free health care, minimum wage, the right to work and an education system. Grass roots local committees provide an illusion of populist democracy. He is socialist but anti-communist.

-Ghadaffi is oriented toward the Middle East rather than North Africa and forms close ties with Egypt and Syria.

1969-1970- Ghaddafi resists military coups launched against him.

-British and US bases are closed and Britain and the US withdraw all personnel and material.
-Libya and Algeria join forces to confront the big oil companies.

1970-72- Ghaddafi is prime minister of Libya.

Hassan II's Authoritarianism in Morocco.

1970- Hassan II of Morocco reforms the constitution but still hangs on to his supreme religious and political authority.

1971-1972- continued poverty and royal absolutism lead to unsuccessful attempted coups against Morocco’s Hassan II.

1970s- foreign military stations closed down in Libya. Ghaddafi promotes Islam andArab unity.

-Ghadaffi supports dictator Idi Amin of Uganda as a fellow Muslim.

1973- terrorist attacks against Moroccan government.

Ghaddafi's Arab Nationalism.

1973- 15 August- Ghadaffi, disgusted with corruption and luxury arising from Libyan oil wealth, launches the Libyan Zwara “cultural revolution” to entrench socialist and Muslim values. Islamic law is imposed. Ba'ath, Communist and all foreign parties are banned. Populace is armed to protect the Revolution. A purge is carried out of the old ruling elite while the bureaucracy is "returned to the people."

Oct- Libya contributes troops and supplies to the Arab cause in the Yom Kippur war against Israel.

1974- with all opposition having been outlawed, Tunsian President Habib Bourguiba declared president for life. However, state control over education and the economy brings stability and increased rights for women.

- May 7- Libya's Gadaffi calls for the creation of Popular Committes to foment the revolution in every community.

-May 14- Gadaffi announces his Third Universal Theory- a traditional Islamic, Libyan Bedouin middle way between Capitalism and Communism advocating communal values for a government modelled on the age-old autonomous Bedouin council. He is the first and only leader in the Maghreb to appeal to indigenous traditions.

1974- Algerian President Boumedienne holds elections. He is declared president by a new constitution.

1975- the former Spanish Sahara comes under joint control of Morocco, Mauritania and Spain. The southern area, Tiris al Gharbia, is shared by Mauritania and Morocco.

-the Algerian economy is increasingly dependent on oil.

-Ghadaffi survives another attempted coup.

1976- January- 187 Popular Committees established in Libya. Each sends three members to attend the First General Congress of the Socialist ppular Libyan Arab Jamahiriya ("rule by the masses"). Property sharing is promoted, multiple ownership of property is ooutlawed. Profit-sharing replaces wages.Major dealerships, retail and grocery operations are all nationalized. The only weakness is the RCC's control of alll vital institutions from oil to security and the military- contrary to popular soverignty. The RCC meanwhile has shrunk to Ghaddafi, Colonel Jalloud, Colonel Mustafa Kharroubi, Colonel Khweldi Homei, and military chi8ef, Colonel Abu Bakr Younis.

Polisario Conflict with Morocco over Western Sahara.

1976- the Spanish Sahara is re-named the Western Sahara. The Algeria-based Polisario Front sets up a government in exile. The Polisario calls the disputed region The Saharan Arab Democratic Republic.

-Tunisian government’s refusal to legalize opposition parties causes political unrest and provokes the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in the 1970s and 1980s.

1976-80- Hassan II deploys a large army to block Polisaro forces from infiltrating Morocco’s western border. Despite military backing from the U.S., he is unable to contol the Western Sahara.

1979- The Polisario, an Algerian-backed liberation front in the Western Sahara forces Mauretania to withdraw. Morocco becomes responsible for the Spanish Sahara despite an independence movement there which is not recognized by Morocco.

1979- Algerian President Chadi Benjedid succeeds Boumedienne.

1980- Ghaddafi launches a campaign of assassination against Libyan dissidents in Europe.

1981- a drop in the price of oil increases the burden of Algeria’s foreign debt. Boumedienne’s successor Chadli is forced to adopt market-oriented economic reforms and austerity measures.

1982- in response to Libyan support for international terrorism, the US bans Libyan oil imports.

Fundamentalism Emerges in Tunisia.

1983-84- Islamic Fundamentalists riot against Tunisian president Bourguiba. His influence is reduced.

1984- urban unrest prompts Hassan II of Morocco to appoint a coalition government of national unity under a civilian prime minister.

-the war in the Western Sahara puts increasing strain on the Moroccan economy throughout the 1980s.

1984- UK accuses Libya of the murder of a police officer in London and severs relations.

-Ghaddafi invades northern Chad for its alleged uranium reserves. But his offensive fails.

1986- Libyan terrorists accused in the bombing of a US forces night club in Germany. President Reagan orders the bombing of Benghazi and Tripoli in an attempt to kill Gaddafi.

Fundamentalism in Tunisia.

1987- due to political unrest, Tunisian president Bourguiba, on grounds of senility, is deposed by his prime minister, Ben Ali. Ben Ali attempts to bring in multi-party politics. But political liberalization is slowed down by resistance from Islamic fundamentalists.

1988- reforms made in the Tunisian constitution to allow opposition parties some minimal representation in the legislature.

1988- The UN decides that the Sahrawi people of Western Sahara should hold a referendum on independence under the Polisario or rule by Morocco.

1988- a Pan Am jet, later found to be rigged with explosives by Libyan agents, explodes and comes down over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing all aboard.

Fundamentalism in Algeria.

-in Algeria the official policy of economic and cultural nationalism fails as Chadli’s austerity measures provoke an Islamic fundamentalist backlash.

1989- in Algeria, Chadli changes the constitution to allow for political parties including the Islamist Islamic Salvation Front- despite their vow to destroy the existing order.

1989- two Libyan fighter jets shot down by warplanes from US aircraft carrier off the North African coast.

-internal and external pressures cause Ghaddafi to withdraw from Chad, allow private enterprise, withdraw support from terror groups and hand over evidence to Britain that he gave support to the IRA.

-Ghaddafi continues building chemical weapons.

The Maghreb Union

1989- the Maghreb Union is founded in Marrakesh, Morocco- with Hassan II, Chadli of Ageria, Zine of Tunisia, Gaddafi of Libya and Sidi Ahmed of Mauritania.

1990- first Maghreb Union summit in Tunis.

-second Maghredb Union Summit in Algiers calls for the princiuple of a customs union.

1990- December- a general strike in Morocco.

-Ghaddafi condemns Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait.

Crackdown on Islamists in Libya.

- Ghaddafi’s increasing moderation causes him to imprison 2,000 Islamist radicals.

1991- UN-brokered ceasefire between the Polisario and Morocco.

Islamists Garner Most Votes in Algerian Eelections.

1991- in Algerian elections, the Islamic Salvation front wins almost half the seats in parliament desppite only 25% of the popular vote and Chadli resigns, giving way to a 5-member transitional state council.

Islamic Insurgency in Algeria.

-an Algerian Islamic insurgency started in 1992 after authorities cancelled elections an Islamist party was poised to win.

1992- February-9- Algeria’s State Council bans the Islamic Salvation Front.

-1992-1999- Algerian civil war between Islamists and the government takes 100,000 lives.

1992- UN imposes sanctions against Libya after it refuses to extradite two Libyans accused in the bombing which brought down a Pan AM passenger plane over Lockerbie, Scotland.

1992- clashes in Algeria between government forces and guerillas of the Islamic Salvation Front. The civil war will last throughout most of the 1990s.

-Libya suffers from UN sanctions, despite its oil wealth.

1994- Tunisian president Ben Ali is re-elected; further constitutional reforms are brought in. However the threat from Islamic fundamentalists is handled by imprisoning them.
Ben Ali promotes Tunisian cultural nationalism against continued French influence.

1995- Morocco- a referendum brings about the formation of a bicameral legislature.

Founding of GSPC.

1998- the G.S.P.C. is created as an offshoot of the Armed Islamic Group (GIA), which along with other Islamist guerrilla forces fought a brutal decade-long civil war after the Algerian military canceled elections in early 1992 because an Islamist party was poised to win. The group is founded by Hassan Hattab, a former Armed Islamic Group (GIA) regional commander after breaking with the GIA in in protest over the GIA's slaughter of civilians.

1999- April 5- in a compromise with Ghaddafi, the Lockerbie suspects are handed over under Scottish law for trial at the international criminal tribunal at the Hague. UN sanctions against Libya are lifted.

End of Civil War in Algeria.

1999- Abdul Aziz Bouteflika is elected president despite withdrawal of all other candidates in protest of unfair elections; with approval by referendum, he declares an amnesty with the Islamic Salvation Front and promotes reconciliation, bringing an end to the civil conflict in Algeria.

-many former Algerian GIA fighters lay down their arms, but a few remain active, including members of the GSPC.

1999- Hassan II of Morocco dies and is succeeded by Mohammed VI.

-Mohammed VI brings about reform and reconciliation and allows opposition leaders to return to Morocco. He dismisses Driss Basri, Hassan’s Minister for Domestic Affairs.

2000- Islamist attacks continue in Algeria, despite amnesty.

2000- African immigrant workers killed by Libyan mobs

2001- Lockerbie trial in the Netherlands results in one conviction.

-various countries including the US begin to do business with Libya again. Thus Libya avoided being a target in the War on Terror.

-Morocco: Mohammed IV’s reforms in such matters as women’s rights, prompt a backlash from Islamic fundamentalists.

2001-May- Algerian Berbers in Kabylie are killed by police while protesting police brutality. Later in the year the government gives official status to the Berber language.
The main Berber party withdraws from the government in protest.

2002- US and Libya hold reconciliation talks.

Beginning of post- 9-11 Sucide Attacks

2003- May 16- 5 suicide blasts in Casablanca hitting Jewish and Spanish targets.

June- Abassi, Madani leader of Algeria’s Islamic Salvation Front freed from prison.

-Libya elected to chair the UN Human Rights Commission.

August- Libya takes responsibility for the Lockerbie bombing and compensates families of the victims, promises to halt programs for weapons of mass destruction.

GSPC mass kidnapping in Algeria.

2003- a G.S.P.C. leader in southern Algeria kidnaps 32 European tourists, some of whom are released for a ransom of 5 million euros (about $6.5 million at current exchange rates), paid by Germany. Officials say the leader, Amari Saifi, bought weapons and recruited fighters before the United States military helped corner and catch him in 2004. He is now serving a life sentence in Algeria.

Moroccan Connection to Madrid Train Bombing.

2004- March 11- suicide bombing of train in Madrid kills 191, injures over 1,000. Lengthy investigation concludes that cells did not come from any well known Islamist group but from Morrocaan hash-smuggling rings previously connected with an Al Qaeda group which became defunct.

-April- Algerian President Boutelika re-elected in a landslide.

June- Abdelmalik Droukdel announces his arrival with a truck bomb at the Algeria’s most important electrical production facility and focuses on associating the GSPC with Al Qaeda. . “The Algerian military says he cut his teeth in the 1990s as a member of the Armed Islamic Group’s feared Ahoual or “horror” company, blamed for some of the most gruesome massacres of Algeria’s civil war.” NYT

-GSPC (al-Qaeda-linked Salafist Group for Call and Combat) declares war on all foreign nationals and interests in Algeria.

- British P.M. Tony Blair visits Libya.

-5 Bulgarian nurses imprisoned in Libya for infecting chidren with HIV.

GSPCmounts attacks in Mauretania.

2005- June – an “attack against a military barrack in Mauritania, executed by Khaled Abul Abbas, chief of the GSPC in the Sahara came as part of this tendency, according to well informed sources. Al-Qaeda was interminably giving guidelines to the Salafist Group since 9/11 attacks.” (ALGERIA EVENTS)

-June-- “Indications that a cross-border alliance was under way came…when the G.S.P.C. attacked a military outpost in Mauritania, killing 15 soldiers. The attackers fled into Mali, according to the United States military.” NYT

End of GIA.

-Nourredine Boudiafi, head of Algeria’s Armed Islamc Group, is arrested, ending the groups effective existence.

September 2005- “the Center for Strategic and International Studies estimated that 600 Algerians were fighting as foreign jihadists in Iraq. At the time, this was believed to be 20 percent of the total strength of the foreign insurgents in Iraq -- the largest of any single group.” -STRATFOR

-Algerian government promises Berbers language rights and capital invesment.

2005- Libya opened to international oil exploration and investment.

GSPC links up, merges with Al Qaeda.

Dec 8- the extremist Algerian Salafist Group for Call and Combat (GSPC) plans to set up an Al-Qaeda branch in the Maghreb countries as a base for attacks to be launched on the countries that support US administration.

2006- January- Al Qaeda in the Maghreb is officially formed from the Algerian GSPC, the Moroccan GICM (responsible for the Casablanca and Madrid bombings in 2003 and 2004 respectively), and other Tunisian elements.

2006- February- Libyans riot against Danish newspaper cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.

Al Qaeda in the Maghreb.

Sept 11- Ayman Zawahiri of Al Qaeda announces the formation of Al Qaeda in the Maghreb.

2006- 6 month Algerian amnesty for Islamists.

2006- May- US begins restoring full diplomatic relations with Libya.

-Algeria, recovering economically, commits itself to paying back its $8 billion national debt.

-September, Rabah Kebir, leader of the Islamic Salvation front, returns to Algeria and urges Islamist militants to disarm.

Dec 10- Algeria- bus bombed carrying foreign oil workers.

2006-2007- Libya’s Gaddafi joins Egypt and Sudan in several attempts at a peace settlement in Darfur.

December- 5 Bulgarian nurses and Palestinian doctor accused of inflecting children with HIV sentenced to life imprisonment.

Dec 2006 to January 2007- (Dec. 23, Jan 3) Algerian Salafist groups engage Tunisian police and army units with 14 terrorists and some police killed.

-Libya cuts the government labour force and moves to stimulate private enterprise.

Al Qaeda in the Sahel.

February- news reports point to Al Qaeda training camps in the Sahel from Senegal to Ethiopia with plans to attack targets in Europe.

Feb 13- GSPC claims responsibility for car bombings in Boumerdas and Tizi Ouzou, on the Berber region of Kabylia in eastern Algeria. (This was a center of resistance during the Algerian war).

-Feb 16 - in the mountain retion of Qashra near the town of Skikda, Alergian police kill 26 and arrest 35 militants in response to the Feb 13 car bombings.

Al Qaeda in the Maghreb present in Morocco.

Feb 20- Moroccan police search for Hmam Bilal et Bel Hachmi and Mohamed Rida who are accused of having ties with groups including the Algeria-based al Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb,

March 4- Algeria- bus carrying Algerian and Russian gas-line workers bombed- killing 3 Algerians and a Russian.

March 11- suicide bombing in Casablanca internet cafe.

April 10- three suicide blasts kill and wound police in raid on Casablanca safe house.

April 11- Algiers- bombings of the police station and prime minister’s office claim 17 lives. Claimed by Al Qaeda.

April 14- two suicide bombings on US diplomatic offices in Casablanca.

June 11- suicide truck bomb kills soldiers at military barracks near Algiers. GSPC claims responsibility.

July- the Bulgarian nurses and the doctor have death sentences in Libya commuted to life. Under a deal with the European Union, they are all repatriated.

Sept 6- suicide blast kills twenty prior to vistit of President Boutefilka near Algiers.

Sept 8- GSPC claims responsibility for bombing of military barracks, killing 37 at Dellys, Algeria.

Oct 7- Zareg Zoheir, mastermind of GSPC suicide bombings killed by Algerian police.

Dec 11- 67 killed in suicide blasts at Constitutional Court and UN offices in Algiers.

Dec 25- French tourists killed by gunman in Mauretania.

2008- Jan 2- suicide attack near police station in Algiers.

January - Libya takes one-month of the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council in a move toward respectability after years as a pariah of the West.

Feb 1- gun attack on Israeli embassy in Nouakshott, Mauretania.

March- heavy fighting in eastern Algeria between GSPC and Algerian army.

April- Spanish police arrest 2 Moroccans in 2003 Casablanca bombings.

June 6- roadside bomb kills 6 soldiers in Algeria.

June 8- double suicide blast in Algerian train station.

July 14- leader of GCPC in Algeria killed in police raid.

2008 July 18, Tunisia- 2 officials and three others were convicted of terrorist activities conspiring to overthrow the government.

Aug 19- Les Issers, Algeria- 43 killed in suicide bombing at police academy.

August - Libya and US sign agreement committing both to compensation of victims in bomb attacks on the other's citizens.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi apologises to Libya for damage inflicted by Italy during the colonial era and signs a five billion dollar investment deal by way of compensation.

Aug 20- double car-bomb attack on Bouira, Algeria, kills workers from a Canadian eater treatment project.

2008 Aug 23, A Tunisian court convicts 13 Islamic militants for planning to carry out attacks in Tunisia. 6 more ae convicted on Aug 26 for setting up a guerilla training base in Tunisia's Kef region for sending fighters to Iraq.

September, 2008 - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice makes the highest-level American visit to Libya since 1953. Ms Rice annojunce a new phase of relations between the US and Libya.

November - US Lockerbie victims' group anniunce full payment of compensation from Libya. Restoration of diplomatic relations posisble with United States.

Nov- three Tunisians prosecuted in Milan for their part in an Italy-based European terror network.

2009- Feburary- Tuinisia- a German who attacked Djerba synagogue in 2002 is sentenced by a French court to 18 yerars.

February - Gaddafi elected chairman of the African Union at meetiung of leaders in Ethiopia. He speaks of a "United States of Africa" even embracing the Caribbean.

June - Gaddafi pays his first state visit to Italy, Libya's former colonial ruler and now its main trading partner.

July- Tunisia- nine men, including two airforce officers, charged with plotting to kill US troops during joint mmilitary exercise.

August - Scotland frees jailed Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi on compassionate grounds and returns him to Libya. His release and return to a hero's welcome sturs up controversy.

September - Libyan celebrations mark 40 years since Colonel Muammar Gaddafi seizure of power.

Oct- Tunisia- President Ben Ali elected to a fifth term in office. Warns of legal consequences if the vote is questioned.

Nov- Tunisia- a journalist is jailed for assualt. Taoufik Ben Brik had written critically of the president. Human rights groups say the charge is politically motivated..

December - Diplomatic row between Switzerland and European Union after Gaddafi's son is held in Switzerland on charges of mistreating domestic workers.

2010- January - Russia agrees to sell weapons to Libya in a deal worth $1.8bn in fighter jets, tanks and air defence systems.

June - UN refugee agency UNHCR expelled from Libya.

July - US senators demand inquiry into suspicions that oil giant BP lobbied for release of Libya's Lockerbie bomber.

BP confirms plans to drill soon off Libyan coast.

- July- Tunisia- Fahem Boukadous's appeal upholds his jail sentence for coverage of violent protests.

October - European Union signs an agreement with Libya to slow illegal migration.

November - Group of journalists arrested in apparent power struggle within ruling elite. Gaddafi later orders them freed.

December - WikiLeaks releases US diplmatic cable suggesting that Gaddafi was prepared to cut trade with Britain if Lockerbie bomber died in jail.

Dec- Tunisia- protests against lack of political freedom and against unemployment become nation wide.

Jan- 2011- Tunisia- demonstrators say police killed at least 50 protesters as demonstrations continue. Government llays the blame on Islamist and left-wing "extremists," reducing the number to 21 killed. Authorities close educational institutions and bring out troop in Tunis to contain demonstrations while promising economic and social reforms. President Ben Ali fires interior minister Rafik Belhaj Kacem, has most of the protestors released and sets up a special committee to investigate corruption.

-Ben Ali flees country ahead of massive protrests.

-Pime Minister Mohammed Ghanoucchi annunces a national unity government, not fully satisfying protestors.

-Ghanouchhi briefly occupies the presidency before a constitutional deciomn kis made for lower house leader Fouad Mebazza to become interim president.

Jan 22- Algeria- sparked by the revolt on Tunisia along with rising prices and unemployment, demonstrators marching on Algiers where met police who opened fire, killing over a dozen.

Jan 26- Morocco- a fourth Moroccan sets himself on fire, in a series of suicide attempts inspired by the self-immolation that set Tunisia's revolution in motion.

February - Arrest of human rights campaigner sparks off violent protests in east Libyan city of Benghazi.

-the east Libya city of Bengazi resists government violence and falls to the protesters.

-Libya's Bengazi protest spreads to Tripoli as part of the military turns against Ghadaffi and Ghadaffi uses tanks, planes and mercenaries against protesters.

Protests In Yemen Show Little Sign of Stopping.

2011-02-16T18:35:00.000-08:00

HISTORY IN THE NEWS:

History never dies. It is reborn every minute of every day.

DEDICATED TO THE ORIGINS OF CONTEMPORARY EVENTS AROUND THE WORLD.

TAG: Mass protests are relatively recent in Sana'a while south Yemen with its traditions of resistance to British colonialism, socialist rule and finally separatism from the north, has the larger tration of protest.

IN THE NEWS: HARD CORE STUDENT PROTESTORS CONTINUE TO CLASH WITH POLICE AND GOVERNMENT-BACKED PROTEST GROUPS IN SANA'A DESPITE SIGNS OF A RIFT BETWEEN THE STUDENTS AND MORE TRADITIONAL OPPOSITION GROUPS. PRESIDENT SALEH'S MINOR CONCESSIONS, INCLUDING STEPPING DOWN FROM THE PRESIDENCY IN 2013, SEEM TO HAVE CONVINCED THE MORE CONSERVATIVE PROTESTORS TO TAKE A MORE GRADUAL TRACK, WHILE THE STUDENTS CONTINUE TO DEMAND MR. SALEH'S IMMEDIATE RESIGNATION IN THE FACE OF ARRESTS AND REPRESSION. MEANWHILE, IN THE SOUTHERN PORT CITY OF TAIZ, THOUSANDS OF STUDENTS PROTEST, DEMANDING MR. SALEH RESIGN IMMEDIATELY
.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Popular protest is relatively new in Yemen, though in the South, which once a British colony, there is an older tradtion of dissent beginning with reaction against colonialism and occupation. In Yemen proper, a violent referendum took place in 2001 as a result of which President Saleh was re-elected with expanded powers while his General People's Congress continued to dominate the south. In August, 2007, fire arms were banned for citizens along with demonstrations without a permit. In April, 2008, there were clashes in south Yemen between govenrment troops and demonstrators protesting job descimintion against the south. In November of that year, police opened fire with tear gas on protestors in Sana'a demanding electoral reform.

In the mid-19th century, the British colonized South Yemen. The core of the Yemeni state remains North Yemen which, because of its remoteness and fierce tribal culture, won autonomy from the Ottomans and was left independent after the Ottomona defeat in 1918 at the end of World War I. South Yemen, meanwhile, mounted a tribal resistance against Britain which became a Marxist resistance, winning independence in the 1960s. After Russian subsidies to South Yemen ended with the fall of the Soviet Union, the South was forced to accept union with the North in 1990. Though the entire country is rugged and difficult to rule, the greatest resistance comes from the south with its history of tribal as well as Marxist rebellions against British colonialism, making a perfect environment for Al Qaeda.

IN THE NEWS: North and South Yemen, though unified today, were essentially different regions with different interests dating back to the 19th century with the tribal kingdom of North Yemen and British-controlled tribal South Yemen with its colony of Aden. Aden and South Yemen, after all, commanded the straits between the Red Sea and the Indian ocean, a vital link between Britain and her Indian and Asian colonies.

In October, 1972 an agreement was signed to form a unified Yemen with the capital at Sana'a governing on combined principles of Islam and socialism. But restive Saudi tribes and other elements made the union all but impossible. The remainder of the 1970s witnessed continuous instability with Major Iryani deposed in the North and two succeeding presidents, Ghashmi and Hamdo assassinated in plots engineered by the South. Promise arose in the North with Ali Abdallah Saleh who backed the idea of a democratic People's Constituent Assembly and to counteract the destabilizing and regressive force of the tribes, he reached out to the West and Saudi Arabia. In a final evolution toward Communism in South Yemen, the NLF was replaced by the Yemen Socialist Party which mirrored the Communist Party of the USSR.The North, meanwhile, mixed conservative tribal politics with socialism as if trying to mediate between the Communist South and and conservative Saudi Arabia to the north.

By the early 1980s, Yemen's isolationism kept it an archaic society in some respects little different from the 9th century beginnings of the Rasshid dynasty. About half the rural, highland population was made up of Shia Muslims living in the mountain hinterlands who accepted the relgious and political authority of the imam. The remainder, living in the coastal lowlands, are Shafi'ite Sunnis. In the late 1980s, unity loomed closer as the Soviet Union cut off support for South Yemen.

Yemen's final unification takes place in 1990, two years after Saleh's re-election. The newly united Yemen flexes its muscles by refusing to enter the 1991 Gulf War. But despite a coalition government, there's no easy union between the feudal culture of the North and the new Socialist structures of the South. Ominously, each retains separate broadcasting facilities and armed forces.

In 1998- unified, fragile and fraying around the edges with tribal disorders, its centre wrought with perennial tensions between north and south, Yemen forges closer ties and holds joint military exercises with the United States. As part of the deal Aden is made available for the refueling of US warships.

A consequence, in the year 2000, is the bombing of the warship the USS Cole killing 17 sailors. Washington blames the Islamic Army of Aden Abyan, the Yemen branch of Al Qaeda and Yemen joins the US in the hunt for the culprits. Four Yemenis confess to the operation, claiming it was done in solidarity with the Palestinians. After a violent referendum in 2001, Saleh is re-elected with expanded powers while his General People's Congress continues to dominate the south.

In November, 2001, two months after 9/11, President Saleh visits Pesident Bush in Washington declaring he will join Bush's War on Terror.

Amid renewed fighting with the Al Houthi rebels and violent demonsrtrations in the south, tourism, oil exploration by foreigners and foreign service postings proved highly dangerous. Tourists and Ukrainian oil company employees die at the hands of suicide bombers and tribesmen while foreign embassy personnel are threatened. It culminates in 2008 with assault by insurgents on the US embassy in Sana'a in which 8 insurgents are killed. In October, Saleh begins a round-up of Islamist militants.

In November 2008, Saleh faces internal problems with five wounded when police open fire on demonstrators demanding electoral reform.

The December 2009 attempted airline bombing by the "underwear bomber" inside the U.S. is soon traced to an Al Qaeda group in Yemen. Saleh expresses a willingness to begin talks with Al Qaeda provided they renounce violence. After the convoy of British envoy Tim Torlot comes under attack, Sana'a holds Al Qaeda responsible.

RELEVANT DATES FOR ANTI-GOVERNMENT PROTESTS IN YEMEN:

Aden a British Colony.

1839- Aden becomes part of the British Empire; the port is needed to secure the passage to India.

1918- with the defeat of the Ottomans, north Yemen becomes independent under the rule of the Imam Yahya Hamid al Din with British support. Yahya centralizes government in return for giving Sharia law to the tribes.

British Grip on South Yemen is Loosened.

1962- July 25- delegates at London conference on Aden agree to its merger with the South Arabian Federation of the Sheikhdoms in the Aden territories. Riots erupt because the SAF is controlled by conservative Sheikhs.

-Republic of Yemen in the north renews claims to all of southern Yemen and border skirmishes erupt with the British. Leftist NLF Republicans supported by the UAR oppse the Biritsh and the conservative Sheikhs.

South Yemen becomes independent inder the National Liberation Front.

1967- under negotiations wth the NLF in South Yemen, Britain begins to withdraw from all of South Arabia.
1968 -in South Yemen, far left prevails and begins to impose Communism in two out of six states despite moderate central government.

North Yemen More Stable under President Saleh.

1978-Ali Abdallah Saleh is new president of North Yemen. Backs the People's Constituent Assembly. He looks for help from Saudi Arabia and the West despite hostility from tribal leaders which slowed progress within the country.

Unification of Yemen.

1990- Yemen is united under Presdent Saleh. Former president of South Yemen, al Beidh becomes vice president.

Collapse of Unified Yemen.

1993-August- Vice President Ali Salim Al Beidh takes refuge in Aden claiming that the south is being neglected and northernerns are persecuting southerners.

Saleh Re-unifies Yemen by Force.

1994- July - North Yemeni government forces occupy Aden, force secessionist leaders out of the country and re-unify the country.

Sept 28- new constitution establishes Islamic Law as legal basis of country. Saleh elected to a 5 year term as president.

Al Qaeda Bombs USS Cole; 9/11 and Increased Presidential Powers.

2000- US war ship the USS Cole damaged in terrorist attack killing 17 sailors. US blames Al Qaeda franchise the Isamic Army of Aden Abyan. Yemen cooperates fully with US to track down culprits.

2001- February- violent referendum shows support for increases President Saleh's powers and term limit. The north continues to dominate the south through the General People's Congress.
2001- November- President Saleh visits Washington and tells Bush that Yemen will join the fight against terror.

Yemen Cracks down on Al Qaeda.

-US and Yemen agree that mountain homeland of the Bin Ladens is a prime region for terror training camps.

2002- Feb. Yemen expels over 100 Islamic scholars, many of them English and French nationals in a a move against Al Qaeda suspects.

2004-2007 Islamist Shia al Houthi Insurgency in North and problems in South.

2004- June-August: Government troops battle Shia Islamist leader and cleric Hussein al Houthi in north Yemen. Hundreds killed.
2008- April- clashes in south with govenrment troops in demonstrations against job descimintion against south Yemen.

Sept- attack on US embassy in Sana'a kills 8 including asaillants. Six arrested.

Oct.- Saleh announces arrest of Islamist militants.

Al Qaeda Merger
2009- Jan-March- the Yemeni and Saudi affiliates of Al Qaeda merge into Al Qaeda in the Arabian peninsula.

Underwear Airline Bomber Trained in Yemen under Al Qaeda.

Dec. -Al Qaeda claims responsibility for the Christmas attack on a US airliner by
the 'underwear bomber.' Sana'a asks for the West's support in the war on terror.

Wikileaks Reaveals US Forces Operating Inside Yemen.
Oct- government troops under US pressure fighting Al Qaeda in difficult, rugged terrain of South Yemen, particularly in the Abyan region.
Dec. Wikileaks: Yemen Allowed US Airstrikes against Al Qaeda.

CONTENTS: SCROLL DOWN FOR:

RELEVANT DATES DISTANT BACKGROUND TO THE EVENTS
RECENT BACKGROUND TO THE EVENTS.
DISTANT BACKGROUND TO THE EVENTS.
REMOTE BACKGROUND TO THE EVENTS
CROSS-CENTURY SUMMARY

TIMELINE FOR THE HISTORY OF YEMEN

RECENT BACKGROUND TO THE EVENTS :

After the attacks of 9/11, Washington and Yemen are particularly concerned that the Bin Laden family's mountain homelands in Yemen would host trainig camps for Al Qaeda. In February 2002, Yemen expels 100 Islamnic scholars while a supertanker sustains heav damage in a bombing reminiscent of the attack on the USS Cole.

10 suspects in the bombing of the USS Cole escape in 2003. In a major embarrassment for Yemen, only two have been recaptured by 2004.

Summer 2004 brings an entirely new development with a Shia insurgency led by a cleric, Hussein al Houthi in north. ( Yemen is muslim with a little more than half the populationSunni with the remainder Shia.) Yemen. Hundreds are killed in combat with government troops. After Al Houthi himself is killed, his Shia followers offer to lay down their arms in return for a pardon and in 2006, 600 of the rebels are given amnesty. After Saleh's re-election, January 2007 sees renewed fighting between the government and followers of al Houthi's successor, Abdul Malik Al Houthi, who accepts a ceasefire in June.

Amid renewed fighting with the Al Houthi rebels and violent demonsrtrations in the south, tourism, oil exploration by foreigners and foreign service postings proved highly dangerous. Tourists and Ukrainian oil company employees die at the hands of suicide bombers and tribesmen while foreign embassy personnel are threatened. It culminates in 2008 with assault by insurgents on the US embassy in Sana'a in which 8 insurgents are killed. In October, Saleh begins a round-up of Islamist militants.

Government troops clash with Al Houthi rebels in August, 2009, displacing thousands in the northern border region.

In November, Saleh faces internal problems with five wounded when police open fire on demonstrators demanding electoral reform.

Foreigners once again are the target as eight visitors go missing before the bodies of three are discovered.

Saudi Arabia becomes embroiled in the Shia border insurgency as Saudi Arabia recaptures territory from Al Houthi rebels clashing with Saudi troops in October-November 2009. The rebels accuse the Saudis of supporting the Yemen government in Sana'a.

The December 2009 attempted airline bombing by the "underwear bomber" inside the U.S. is soon traced to an Al Qaeda group in Yemen. Saleh expresses a willingness to begin talks with Al Qaeda provided they renounce violence. After the convoy of British envoy Tim Torlot comes under attack, Sana'a holds Al Qaeda responsible.

In February, 2010 Sana'a signs a cease-fire with Al-Houthi rebels and in March the Shia insurgency, under government pressure, releases 178 prisoners.

DISTANT BACKGROUND TO THE EVENTS: North and South Yemen, though unified today, were essentially different regions with different interests dating back to the 19th century with the tribal kingdom of North Yemen and British-controlled tribal South Yemen with its colony of Aden. Aden and South Yemen, after all, commanded the straits between the Red Sea and the Indian ocean, a vital link between Britain and her Indian and Asian colonies.

This was the situation on the eve of World War One when North Yemen, under the Imam Hamid Yaya al Din, secured relative autonomy under Ottoman rule as a condition for siding with Turkey upon the outreak of hostilities. The Ottomans reinforced their position in Yemen with an elite bigade staffed by German officers. Fears that the latter would be used against the local tribes helped spark the Arab Revolt. In the wake of the Allied defeat of Turkey, Al Din ruled an independent north Yemen while the British controlled North Yemen's ports including Hodeiba, loosely supervised the tribal south and adminstered Aden directly from the colonial office in India. When British- backed tribes lost the Asir coastal region to the Saudis, the Imam intervened and took back the ports and divided Asir with Saudi Arabia.

Yahya's medieval rule and monopoly on trade and nepotism alienated the merchants of merchants of Aden along with the considerable labour force.

Though North Yemen and Saudi Arabia remained rivals for control of the Arabian peninsula in the 1930s, the European powers sought to establish hegemony in the region and kept a wary eye on Imam al Din. A border war ensued between the Saudis and Al Din, ultimately without issue. After securing control over North Yemen by giving Sharia law to the tribes, Al Din attempted to expand his state into a Greater Yemen but his efforts were blocked by the British. Britain continued to repulse Yemeni incursions into Aden using the Royal Air Force. In the 1934, meanwhile, Britain consolidated her rule of South Yemen from Aden by signing a 40 year treaty with Sana'a, the capital. Saudi Arabia, made territorial incursions on North Yemen only to be stopped abruptly by French, British and Italian warships. In the end, North Yemen lost half its territory.

In 1937 Britain tightened its srategic grip on the region by making Aden a Crown Colony ruled directly from London and formally adminstering the southern tribal areas as a protectorate. North Yemen, accepted support from Italy's Mussolini during World War Two and became a member of the Arab league in 1945.

Tensions escalated between north and south in 1948 when Imam Yahya al Din was assassinated by the reform-minded landowner Abdullah al-Wazir. The late iman's son Imam Ahmad Yahya al Din immediately overthrew Wazir and ascended the throne determined to unite north and south in a Greater Yemen. Once again, the British put a stop to North Yemeni expansion and the kingdom fell backward into feudalism. Until 1962, North Yemen, or Yemen proper, remained a theocracy with government ministers married into the royal family and the tribal areas controlled by seizing hostages which were then imprisoned in the capital.

The festering divide between North and South took on regional proportions as Egypt's Nasser and King Saud of Saudi Arabia signed a tripartite pact with North Yemen's King Ahmad. Having secured Egyptian backing, Yemen attempted to calm its more progressive classes with a dose of Arab nationalism and opposition to the British in Aden by forming a federation with the United Arab Republic. The result brought about gains in the tribal south as part of the army of the Sultanate of Lahej, citing British oppression, defected to the federation in hopes of creating a larger southern bloc to be united in a non-British Southern Arabian League and, once again, isolating the British in Aden. In 1957-59 a brief war broke out between the North and the British. Britain decided to place a military base in Aden in 1958. Publicly, before the UN, Yemen laid claim to Aden. In 1959 Britain retaliated by offering to form a federation of southern sultanates in return for future independence.

Neither tribal north nor British colonial south had the power or the regional backing to attain their designs against the other. Britain knew she was facing the loss of everything in the South except for Aden. Things were no better for King Ahmad in the North as his union with the United Arab Republics disintegrated and he had a falling out with Nasser who found the king far too reactionary. At the Aden Conference of 1962, the British solution was to join the conservative southern sheikdoms with Aden in a single federation of South Arabia much to the fury of a growing secular political left.

The south was now a tinder box with a leftist National Liberation Front violently opposing the British and the conservative tribal Sheiks; and North Yemen sparking border skirmishes in hopes of taking advantage of a divided South. In the North, modernizing elements in the army and among the merchant class plotted to seize control. But it was the North that exploded in civil war when, upon the flight of King Ahmad, General Salel took control in September, 1962, at the head of a coup d'etat. The Middle East itself was nearly split as Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Yemen's Zaidi border tribes backed escaped members of the fallen monarchy while urban Yemen, the Sunni hill tribes, Syria. Egypt and the United Arab Reublics backed the Republicans. The United States meanwhile, sent observers to Saudi Arabia, fearing instablity in the oil fields.

The civil war continued. President Salel reached out for help, getting training and technical support from Egypt and forming agreements with Moscow and Peking. The large number of Egyptians living in Yemen prompted the formation of pro- and anti-Nasser factions. With all local powers wanting Britain out of South Yemen, the contenders for independence, the leftist National Liberation Front (NLF) and the nationalist Front for the Liberation of South Yemen (FLOSY) become locked in civil war as well.

Salel, looking to profit from chaos in the South, attempted to regain territories lost in the civil war only to fnd himself deprived of crucial support from Nasser who withdrew ignominiously and was now embroiled in the 1967 war with Israel. A royalist coup against Salel fizzled. Compromises were reached with Sunnis, tribes and royalists. But it was not enough. Bereft of Nasser, his major backer, Salel was overthrown in a military coup by Major Abdul Rahmen al Iryani.

In the South, 1967 saw a sea change with a new military regime; and a victorious NFL in the south ready to negotiate the withdrawal from Britain. But South Yemen's NLF soon split with a Marxist wing pushing for a radicalized program. Though the south, with an urban proletariat in Aden and a congeries of tribal groups, was not properly unified, the Marxists began, in 1968, by imposing Communism on two out of six districts. FLOSY meanwhile, having been ousted by the NFL, had found asylum in North Yemen whence it began launching attacks across the border with backing from Saudi Arabia and local Sheikhs. The NFL then split between Nasserites and Radicals.

A fragile Republican North Yemen subsisted in 1970 with the South consolidating one-party rule by a Marxist council. The council repressed dissident groups and renamed the new state the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen. (PDRY). In 1972 the exiled tribal leaders had been invited by Aden to a meeting in the south where 65 of their Sheiks were apparently assassinated. Border clashes resulted ending with a peace being brokered by the Arab League. In October an agreement was signed to form a unified Yemen with the capital at Sana'a governing on combined principles of Islam and socialism. But restive Saudi tribes and other elements made the union all but impossible. The remainder of the 1970s witnessed continuous instability with major Iryani deposed in the North and two succeeding presidents, Ghashmi and Hamdo assassinated in plots engineered by the South. Promise arose in the North with Ali Abdallah Saleh who backed the idea of a democratic People's Constituent Assembly and to counteract the destabilizing and regressive force of the tribes, he reached out to the West and Saudi Arabia. In a final evolution toward Communism in South Yemen, the NLF was replaced by the Yemen Socialist Party which mirrored the Communist Party of the USSR.The North, meanwhile, mixed conservative tribal politics with socialism as if trying to mediate between the Communist South and and conservative Saudi Arabia to the north.

The spectre of North-South unity re-emerged in 1979, sparking border clashes. Meanwhile, Ali Nasser Muhammed rose to rule South Yemen in a military coup. Across the border, Saleh set up a General People's Congress and signed a propsective unity agreement with South Yemen. As oil production in North Yemen increased in 1984, President Saleh sought contacts with leftists in the South. Two years later the South's president Ali Nasser Mohammed fled the country after an assassination attempt and and Ali Salim Beidh rose to take the presidency. Unity loomed closer as the Soviet Union cut off support for South Yemen.

By the early 1980s, Yemen's isolationism still kept it an archaic society in some respects little different from the 9th century beginnings of the Rasshid dynasty. About half the rural, highland population was made up of Shia living in the mountain hinterlands who accepted the relgious and political authority of the imam. The remainder, living in the coastal lowlands, are Shafi'ite Sunnis.

Yemen's final unification takes place in 1990, two years after Saleh's re-election. The newly united Yemen flexes its muscles by refusing to enter the 1991 Gulf War. But despite a coalition government, there's no easy union between the feudal culture of the North and the new Socialist structures of the South. Ominously, each retains separate broadcasting facilities and armed forces.

Amid mutual recrimination the presidents of North and South- Saleh and Beidh, drift apart with the South claiming political persecution and discimination and by 1994 the two armies face one another across the border. In the end, Beidh is ousted, Saleh declares Yemen one and independent and makes secession illegal. He is instantly challenged from the South by President Bakr al Attas who declares indepndence for South Yemen. In the fall, Saleh unifies the country with armed force and establishes Islamic law before his re-election to a five-year term.

In 1998- unified, fragile and fraying around the edges with tribal disorders, its centre wrought with perennial tensions between north and south, Yemen forges closer ties and holds joint military exercises with the United States. As part of the deal Aden is made available for the refueling of US warships.

A consequence, in the year 2000, is the bombing of the warship the USS Cole killing 17 sailors. Washington blames the Islamic Army of Aden Abyan, the Yemen branch of Al Qaeda and Yemen joins the US in the hunt for the culprits. Four Yemenis confess to the operation, claiming it was done in solidarity with the Palestinians. After a violent referendum in 2001, Saleh is re-elected with expanded powers while his General People's Congress continues to dominate the south.

In November, 2001, two months after 9/11, President Saleh visits Pesident Bush in Washington declaring he will join Bush's War on Terror.

REMOTE BACKGROUND TO THE EVENTS:

In the 9th century BC, the Minean people of south Yemen control a wide-ranging trade network covering most of north Africa and Yemen itself forms the southern heartland of an advanced civilization in the Arabian peninsula. Myth makes Yemen the homeland of the Queen of Sheba. The feudal Sabians supplant the Mineans only to be supplanted in turn by the Himyarites. By 200 BC, the Himyarites are losing control of the Indian Ocean trade to the Mediterranean. Still, they repulse a Roman legion in 24 BC. The third to the seventh centuries AD witness a general waning of the Yemeni trading states.

In 525 AD, the growing strength of the Himyarite Jewish population results in the persecution of Christians. Meanwhile, the Himyarties recover their trading power, controlling commerce in frankincense, myrrh and rare woods between India, China, Africa, the Middle East and Europe. With Byzantine encouragement, Christian Abyssinia in 530 invades the Himyarite Kingdom; the invaders succeed, but fail to capture Mecca. Five years later, Abyssinian control of the Himyartie kingdom falls to the Persian Sassinids under Chosroes I

Islam arrives in Yemen around 650. In the eighth century, the region becomes Shia after Zaid, the great grandson of Ali secedes from the Omayyads in a succession dispute in 740. Yemen is then ruled by the Zaidi Imam Ali Kasim al-Rassi. By 1000 Yemen is part of the Caliphate of Egypt. Once again the Jews of Yemen appear in the record, this time because of Muslim persecution. In the Middle Ages, the region maintains its commercial prominence with the trade in alum for dying textiles.

After the Ottoman occupation of Yemen in 1517, the British make trading contact, with posts in Aden and regions inland for strategic protection of her maritime commerce with India. But the moutains wall off the hinterland and local rule prevails as the Ottomans are expelled in the 17th century and the Sultanate of Lahej continues rules the south around Aden. Yemen remains a difficult prize. In 1798 the British attempt and fail to occupy Perim Island off the coast of Aden in a bid to head off Napoleon's threat to the route to India. The Wahhabis of Saudi Arabia attack North Yemen on a campaign of conversion but are unable to make headway. In 1818 Ibrahim of Egypt drives them out on behalf of the Ottomans and restores the Zaidi Imam in exhannge for a subsidy to Constantinople. The Ottomans garrison the main Yemeni ports.

The British succeed in capturing Aden in 1839, making the Sultan of Lahej into a vassal. The new colony of Aden, now protecting Britain's sea route to India, is administered from Bombay.

In 1849, intractable North Yemen, meanwhile, rebels against reoccupation by the Ottomans.To the south, Aden is further tied to European interests when it becomes a feuling station with the opening of the Suez canal in 1869. The north, under the Imam Yahya Hamid al Din, however, enters the 20th century in 1900 under Ottoman suzerainty. In 1911, on the eve of Wolrd War One, the Iman leads a rebellion against the Ottomans and obtains joint rule with Constantinople.

CROSS-CENTURY SUMMARY:

TIMELINE FOR THE HISTORY OF YEMEN:

Ancient Yemen

800-200 BC- Mineans, a tribe of south Yemen, send camel caravans to memphis, Egypt and to the Atlantic cooast of Africa.

750 BC- advanced civilizations in southern Arabia. The Yemen region forms the cultural heartland of Arabia.

-Sabeans absorb the Mineans and set up a system of feudal aristocracy that resists the rise of any centralized authority.

-Sabeans absorbed by the Himyarites.

The Himyarites

-200 BC (circa) Himyarites lose control of the major Mediterranean trade route to India after it is diverted to Egypt.

-24 BC- Himyarites repulse a legion under Aelius Gallus at the behest of Julius Caesar.

200-600- waning of the urbanized Yemenite trading states.

525 AD- Judaism gains strength in the Himyarite kingdom resulting in the persecution of Christians.

-Himyarites control the trade route in frankinsense, myhhr and rare woods between Europe, Africa, the Mideast and India and China.

530- Byzantium encourages Christian Abyssinia to invade the Himyarites. Abyssynian governor Abraha conquers the Himyarites and invades the Arabian heartland but fails to capture Mecca.

575- Abyssinia loses Arabia to the Persian Sassinids under Chosroes I.

The Arrival of Islam.

650- (circa) Yemen falls under rule of Islam.

1000- Yemen ruled by caliphs of Egypt.

1165- beginning of Muslim persecution of Jews in Saydi Yemen.

1250 (circa)- Yemen is an important source of alum for the dying of textiles.

The Ottomans and the Arrival of British Trading Interests.

1517 - the Ottomans occupy Yemen

-Britain using Aden and hinterland for trading and strategic outposts in the India sea trade.

1650 (circa) Ottomans expelled from Yemen.

-Aden ruled by the Sultanate of Lahej.

1798 (crica) -British attempt but fail to take strategic Perim island off the coast of Aden in the Red Sea to ward off Napoleon's ambitions in India.

1839- British seize Aden and make the Sultan of Lahej into a vassal.

Aden a British Colony.

1839- Aden becomes part of the British Empire; the port is needed to secure the passage to India.

-Aden ruled from India by the Presidency of Bombay.

1869- Aden becomes a refueling station at the opening of the Suez Canal.

1849- the Ottomans re-occupy north Yemen only to face revolt.

Hamid Al Din Rules North Yemen.

1900- North Yemen under Ottoman suzerainty, ruled by Yahya Hamid al Din (1869-1948)

1911- al Din rebels against Ottomans and gains greater powers.

1914-18- Ottoman Turks attacking Birtish garrisons in Aden. In north, al Din supports Ottomans.

1916- arrival of German offficers in command of Ottoman troops in Yemen helps set off the Arab rebellion.

North Yemen Independent After World War One.

1918- with the defeat of the Ottomans, north Yemen becomes independent under the rule of the Imam Yahya Hamid al Din with British support. Yahya centralizes government in return for giving Sharia law to the tribes.

1925- Imam Yahya occupies Hodeida port from the Asir region in bid to re-establish Greater Yemen. But Britain stops any further expansion.

1926- Sept. 22- treaty between Italy and the Imam of Yemen- in which Italy hopes to gain access to the east and west coasts lf the Red Sea.

-border disputes between Saudi Arabia and Yemen.

British Rule in South Yemen.

1927- Britain rules Aden directly as opposed to the surrounding protectorate.

1932- Aden governed directly from colonial British India.

Treaty Between Brtiain and North Yemen.

1934- Feb 11- 40 year treaty between Britain and Sana'a.

-North Yemen and Saudi Arabia go to war over the Asir region. Saudi Arabia, after seizing Hodeida is stopped from further expansion by British, French and Italian warship.s

May-June- Britain brokers a peace which leaves North Yemen independent but with half its territory.

1936- April 2- North Yemen joins treaty of non-aggression between Saudi Arabia and Iraq.

British Rule of South Yemen.

1937- Aden becomes a Crown Colony of the Britain and the surrounding territory formally becomes a British protectorate, ruled directly by a British governor.

-despite Birtish development and progress, frequent anti-British riots.

1937- Oct 15- renewal of Italy-Yemen treaty for 25 years. Imam of Yemen tries to maintain independence from Arabia, Britain and Italy.

1945- North Yemen a charter member of the Arab League.

British South Yemen made up of 23 Sultanates.

1947- British establish an advisory council in Aden. Tading city of 100,000, majority Arab. The Aden protectorate stretches along the south, approximating what would be South Yemen with eastern and western protectorates, 23 Arab sultanates, emirates, sheikhdoms and minor tribal units...British authority through all the entities is irregular, secured by individual treaties. Majority of the 80,000 are Bedouin tribesmen. All policed by Arab troops under British officers.
Most privielged principality i Lahej.

1947- Sept. 30- North Yemen admitted to UN.

North Yemen's Yahya al Din Assassinated. Heir dreams of Greater Yemen.

1948- Imam Yahya is assassinated but his son Ahmad ibn Yahya succeeds him and preserves feudalsim. He will rule intil 1962.

1948-1962- Yemen becomes isolated and backward.

-British stop Imam Ahmad of North Yemen from attemting to recreate Greater Yemen.

1956- April 21- Nasser, King Saud, and Imam Ahmad sign a 5-year tripartite military pact under Egyptian command.

-Moscow sending miltary aid to Syria, Egypt and Yemen.

North Yemen Begins to make gains in South Yemen.

1958- March 8- in Damascus, Ibn Ahmad, and his son the Crown Prince Said al-Badr join Nasser in forming a loose federation of North Yemen with the UAR to be called the United Federation of Arab States.

-June- one third of the army of the Aden Sultanate of Lahej defects to North Yemen due to sultan's compaints about British domination. Britain appeals for hel from Egypt's Nasser.

Beginning of anti-British National Consciousness in South Yemen.

-Lahej forms the Southern Arabian League to oppose Britain and form a south Arabian state including Aden and its territories which would then join Yemen in the United Arab States.

1959- Feb 11- Britain brokers a federation of the 6 Arab emirates of the south, including south Yemen but not Aden, in return for future independence.

-Aden is Britain's last secure possession in the Middle East.

1961- UAR ends federation with North Yemen. Ibn Ahmad turns against Egypt's Nasser.

British Grip on South Yemen is Loosened.

1962- July 25- delegates at London conference on Aden agree to its merger with the South Arabian Federation of the Sheikhdoms in the Aden territories. Riots erupt because the SAF is controlled by conservative Sheikhs.

-Republic of Yemen renews claims to all of southern Yemen and border skirmishes erupt with the British. Leftist NLF Republicans supported by the UAR oppse the Biritsh and the conservative Sheikhs.

Civil War in NorthYemen falls along Cold War Lines.

1962- Sept 19- upon the death of Ahmad, latter is succeded by his son Muhammad Al-Badr but the army takes control under General Abdullah al-Sallal in a coup dètat, forming the Yemen Arab Repubpic (YAR). In a civil war the royalists take refuge in Saudi Arabia and are backed by the Zaidi tribes in the north, Saudi Arabia and Jordan and the republicans by the Sunni Sahfei hill tribes of the south, the United Arab Republic, Syria and Nasser`s Egypt. Royalists receive arms from British South Africa. The Republicans are armed by th Soviet Union.

-Royalists try to rouse the tribes against the rebels.

-Nov 6- Saudi Arabia claims that UAR planes bombed Saudi territory while assisting the rebels.

-Nov 11- UAR and Yemeni Republic announce military defence treaty.

-US exerts pressure to prevent the fighting from destabilizing Saudi Arabia and other oil producers in the region.

1963- Mar 2- UN rep Ralph J Bunche in Yemen to observe involvement of Saudi Arabia and the UAR in the civil war.

-Aden joins the South Arabian Federation of Arab Emirates.

-June 7- UN persuades UAR and Saudia Arabia to help broker a peace in North Yemen Civil War.

1964- March 3- Saudi Arabia and the UAR officially urge independence for South Yemen.

March 24- North Yemen President al-Salel visitis Moscow and obtains a treaty and aid from Soviet Union.

March 28- Britain sends planes to bomb a Yemeni fort after Yemenis launch an attack on Federation of South Arabia.

-June 15- North Yemen signs friendship treaty with China.

Civil War in Territories of South Yemen

-after a civil war in South Yemen between the northern-influenced National Liberation Front (NLF) and the Front for the Liberation of Occupied South Yemen (FLOSY), the NLF is victorious by 1967.

1967- Salel tries to rgain territory North Yemen lost in civil war but fails due to Egypt being tied up in war with Israel.

North Yemen's President Salel overthrown after losing support of Egypt.

-November- Salel, deprived of Egyptian support is overthrown by officers led by Abdul Rahman al Iryani.

South Yemen becomes independent inder the National Liberation Front.

1967- under negotiations wth the NLF in South Yemen, Britain begins to withdraw from all of South Arabia.

-under the NLF South Yemen established as The People's Republic of Yemen (PDRY), including South Arabia and the port of Aden. But much impoverished after the departure of the British.

-but soon the NLF is split between thouse who want a traditional socialist government and radicals who want a Marxist party organization and state control.

-South Yemen is never properly unified.

Far Left Rules South Yemen.

1968 -in South Yemen, far left prevails and begins to impose Communism in two out of six states despite moderate central government.

-border attacks by FLOSY on South Yemen from the north, with support from Saudis and local Sheikhs.

-attempts are made to impose Communism on South Yemen through cooperatives and central planning with assistance from USSR. In return, USSR gets a naval base in Yemen.

1969- leftist leader in South Yemen turns power over to a radical left guerrilla council.

1970- North Yemen ruled by fragile republican coalition.

-South Yemen renamed The People's Democratic Republic of Yemen. (PDRY)

1971. South Yemen represses dissidents as rebel groups form against the government.

1972- border clashes between the YAR of North Yemen and the PDRY. Arab League brokers a ceasefire.

Instability in North Yemen.

1974- military coup deposing Iryani places North Yemen under command of Hussein al Ghashmi.

1977- President Ibrahim Hamdo assassinated.

1978- President Gashmi assassinated.

North Yemen More Stable under President Saleh.

1978-Ali Abdallah Saleh is new president of North Yemen. Backs the People's Constituent Assembly. He looks for help from Saudi Arabia and the West despite hostility from tribal leaders which slowed progress within the country.

-in South Yemen the NLF is replaced by rhe Yemen Socialist Party modeled on the
Communist Party of the USSR.

1979- new efforts to unite north and south Yemen spark new fighting.

1980- Al Nasser Muhammed takes control of South Yemen in a coup.

1981- Saleh sets up 1,000 member General People's Congress.

-Saleh signs a unity agreement with South Yemen.

1982- thousands killed in earthquake.

1984- oil production increases rappidly in North Yemen.

-Saleh accepts economic support from Saudi Arabia while forging links with leftists in South Yemen.

Coup in South Yemen.

1986- President Ali Nasser Mohammed flees the country after attempted assassination. New government sentences him to death for treason. Ali Salim al Beidh is president of South Yemen.

-Moscow cuts its aid to South Yemen, spurring the latter to unity talks with North.

-brief civil war followed by unity talks.

1988- Saleh re-elected in North Yemen.

Unification of Yemen.

1990- Yemen is united under Presdent Saleh. Former president of South Yemen, al Beidh becomes vice president.

1991- Yemen opposes the US-led Gulf War.

1993- April -ruling parties of the former north and south form a coalition government. But little attempt is made to unify the tribal and feudal north with the south and the socialist stuctures imposed on it. North and South maintain separate armies and separate broadcasting.

-elections- YSP of al Beidh accuses Saleh of co-opting the YIG party to gain power.

Collapse of Unified Yemen.

-August- Vice President Ali Salim Al Beidh takes refuge in Aden claiming that the south is being neglected and northernerns are persecuting southerners.

1994- May- Northern and southern armies, which never integrated, face one another on the border threatening war.

May - Saleh imposes state of emegency and dismisses Al Beid after government deadlock and increasing violence.

May 21- Saleh declares the independence and unity of Yemen, declares secession illegal

-Bakr al-Attas declares South Yemen independent.

Saleh Re-unifies Yemen by Force.

July - North Yemeni government forces occupy Aden, force secessionist leaders out of the country and re-unify the country.

Sept 28- new constitution establishes Islamic Law as legal basis of country. Saleh elected to a 5 year term as president.

1995- Yemen and Eritrea fight over disputed island territory.

-border disputes between North Yemen and Saudi Arabia aggravated by discovery of oil in the area.

-Yemen fails to control outlying tribal regions.

Yemen Strengthens Ties with United States.

1998- Nov- in strenghening its ties with the US, Yemen has joint military exerces with US.

1999- north-south border disputes resolved with a 40 km demilitarized zone.

-Yemen aggrees to let US Navy use Aden for refueling.

Al Qaeda Bombs USS Cole.

2000- US war ship the USS Cole damaged in terrorist attack killing 17 sailors. US blames Al Qaeda franchise the Isamic Army of Aden Abyan. Yemen cooperates fully with US to track down culprits.

Oct- Four Yemenis confess to carrying out bomb attack at the British Embassy; say they did so in solidarity with the Palestinians.

2001- February- violent referendum shows support for increases presidental powers and term limit. The north continues to dominate the south through the General People's Congress.

2001- November- President Saleh visits Washington and tells Bush that Yemen will join the fight against terror.

Yemen Cracks down on Al Qaeda.

-US and Yemen agree that mountain homeland of the Bin Ladens is a prime region for terror training camps.

2002- Feb. Yemen expels over 100 Islamic scholars, many of them English and French nationals in a a move against Al Qaeda suspects.

Oct. -the supertanker Limburg is heavily damaged off the coast of Yemen in attack. Al Qaeda is suspected.

2003- April- 10 chief suspects in bombing of SS Cole escape from prison in Aden.

2004- two of the SS Cole suspects are re-captured.

Islamist Shia al Houthi Insurgency in north.

June-August: Government troops battle Shia Islamist leader and cleric Hussein al Houthi in north Yemen. Hundreds killed.

August- court sentences 15 men in bombing of the Limburg and other terror attacks.

Sept. -Government troops claim to have killed rebel cleric Al Houthi in the north.

Sept 29- 2004- A Yemeni court senteces two Al Qaeda operatives, Al-Bashiri and Al Badawi to death for the attack on the USS Cole. Four others get prison sentences.

March-April- insurgent followers of Al Houthi renew attacks on government forces.

May- rebel leader of Al Houthi's Shia movement offers to lay down arms in return for pardon amid continued fighting.

2006- 600 followers of slain Shia rebel cleric Al Houthi are given amnesty.

Sept- Saleh wins another term as president.

Sucessor to al Houthi Resumes Shia Insurgency.

2007- January-March- government fighting against Shia Al Houthi rebels in north.

June- successor Abdul Malik al Houthi accepts ceasefire.

July- convoy hit by suicide bomber killing 8 Yemenis and 2 Spaniards in Marib province.

Aug. Fire arms banned for citizens in Yemen along with demonstrations without a permit.

-November- tribesmen attack troops guarding a Ukrainian oil company leaving 16 dead in Shabwa Province.

2008- January- more fighting between followers of Shia rebel cleric Abdul Malik Al Houthi and government forces.

March-April- widespread attacks against foreign targets and installations in Yemen. US embassy evacuates personnel.

April- clashes in south with govenrment troops in demonstrations against job descimintion against south Yemen.

Sept- attack on US embassy in Sana'a kills 8 including asaillants. Six arrested.

Oct.- Saleh announces arrest of Islamist militants.

Nov.- police fire on demonsrrators demanding electoral reform. Five injured.

2009- Jan-March- the Yemeni and Saudi affiliates of Al Qaeda merge into Al Qaeda in the Arabian peninsula.

Feb. -government nnounces release of five Al Qaeda suspects on condition of good behaviour.

June- 9 foreigners abducted in the northern Saada region; bodies of three discovered.

Aug.- government launches offensive against Shia insurgency in northern Saada region, dsiplacing thousands.

Oct.- Shia rebels in Saada on the northern border clash with Saudi security forces. Rebels claim the Saudis are cooperating with the government in Sana'a

Nov. -Saudi Arabia recaptures territory lost from Shia rebels in border region.

Underwear Airline Bomber Trained in Yemen under Al Qaeda.

Dec. -Al Qaeda claims responsibility for the Christmas attack on a US airliner by
the 'underwear bomber.' Sana'a asks for the West's support in the war on terror.

Dec 25- Umar Farouk Abdulmatallab, the "Underwear Bomber", arrested for attempting to blow up Northwest Airlines Flight 253. He had been trained in Yemen by 'Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsuala."
2010- President Saleh says he will open talks with Al Qaeda militants provided they renounce violence.

Ceasefire with al Houthi Shia Rebels.

Feb.- cease-fire signed with northern Shia Houthi rebels.

March- Houthi rebels release 178 captives after government accuses them of failing to abide by terms of ceasefire.

April- Yemen government holds Al Qaeda responsible for attack on the convoy of British envoy, Tim Torlot.

Sept- government military offensivce forces thousands to flee south Shawba separatist militants.

Oct- government troops under US pressure fighting Al Qaeda in difficult, rugged terrain of South Yemen, particularly in the Abyan region.

Dec. Wikileaks: Yemen Allowed US Airstrikes against Al Qaeda.

MIDDLE EAST UNREST REACHES IRAN AS POLICE MEET PROTESTS

2011-02-14T19:49:00.000-08:00

HISTORY IN THE NEWS:

History never dies. It is reborn every minute of every day.

DEDICATED TO THE ORIGINS OF CONTEMPORARY EVENTS AROUND THE WORLD.

TAG: There have been mass popular protests in Iran ever since nationalist movements began to protest British and Iranian colonialism in Persia around 1900.

IN THE NEWS: THE AGITATION THAT HAS GRIPPED TUNISIA, ALGERIA, EGYPT AND YEMEN SPREADS TO IRAN AS DEMONSTRATORS MASS IN TEHERAN AND OTHER CITIES TOTALLING MORE THAN 20,000 BEFORE BEING PUSHED BACK BY RIOT POLICE. THE IRANIAN LEADERSHIP, WHILE SUPPORTING THE RIOTS ABROAD AS A REBELLION AGAINST WESTERN-BACKED DESPOTS DID NOT EXPECT THAT THE SAME CURRENT WOULD TURN AGAINST THEM. DECLINING TO SHOW THE RESTRAINT EXERCISED IN EGYPT, ITANIAN AURTHORITIES RESPONDED WITH BEATINGS AND MASS ARRESTS. WHILE THE LEADERSHIP PRE-EMPTED ALL PRESS REPORTS, NEWS OF THE DEMONSRATIONS GOT OUT THROUGH FACEBOOK, TWITTER AND OPPOSITION WEB SITES.

First Nationalist Movement in Iran.

1905- nationalist revolution begins in Persia.
1906- Mozaffar al-Din Shah concedes a constitution under pressure from constitutionalists and with the encouragement of the British ambassador. This limits concessions to foreign companies.
First Glimmer of Constitutional Democracy and Opposition to Britain.

1907- Constitutional revolution under Shah Muzzafar al Din Qajar provides an elected assembly (Majlis)
1920- internal opposition to the Anglo-Persian agreement results in Persia turning toward the the U.S. (which was increasingly interested in Persian oil). The U.S. responds by objecting to the unfairness of the British monopoly on Persian oil and negotiations are commenced for for Amercan insyead of British aid, development and advisers.
British Put Shah Pahlavi in Power.

1921- a British-backed coup by an officer, Reza Pahlavi overthrows the government of Fathullah Gillani. . Pahlavi gets the Majlis to depose the Qajar dynasty and make him Shah.
Popular Protest at US and BritishMeddling.

1944- US Adviser Millspaugh excites popular protest by attempting to fire the head of the Iranian National Bank. Millspaugh resigns, most of his attempts at reform having failed.

-popular sentiment rises against the British interests and presence in Iran.
Mossedeq Atttempts Nationalist Revolution over Oil.
1951- - Prime Minister Mohammed Mussadiq, a nationalist, nationalizes the Anglo-Iranian oil company.

-at the UN, Mossadiq insists on Iran’s right to ownership of its oi

1953- after a struggle with Mossadiq over control of the Defense Ministry, an attempt by the Shah to dismiss Mossadiq is protested by nationalist riots, the Shah leaves Iran.

-however, the army remains in support of the Shah.
The CIA has Mossadeq Overthrown.
-the CIA, especially aware of the Shah as an asset against Communism, works with Monarchist officers bringing about the overthrow and arrest of Mossadiq and the return of the Shah. Mossadiq is sentenced to two years in prison.
First Protests Against the Shah.
1970- protests build against the Shah’s regime.
1977- a protest movement begins under the guidance of Ruholla Khomeini from exile in Najaf.

The 1978 Popular Revolution.
1978- an alliance of Marxists and radical Shia clerics overthrows the Pahlavi regime.

-anti-monarchist Shapur Bakhtiar becomes Prime Minister but the clergy mistrust him.
The 1979 Clerical Revolution.

1979- April- after several attempts at a Monarchist coup are made, Iran is proclaimed an Islamic republic under the Ayatollah Ruholla Khomeini.
1989- Khomeini dies. After a power struggle, another cleric, Hashemi Rafsanjani becomes speaker of the Majlis and Ayatollah Khamenei replaces Khomeini.
Rasfanjani's Liberal Political Reforms.

1997- Rafsanjani is defeated in elections by Muhammed Khatemi, a relative liberal. He brings liberal reforms to the political system.

1999- Under Khatemi, Iran holds its first elections.
Reformers Win a Majority.

2000- reformers win a majority in the Majlis.
Reform Candidates Barred froim Running.
2008- parliamentary elections return a 2/3 majority of conservatives, with many reform candidates barred from running. Moderate conservatives embarrassed by Ahmedinejad also win seats.
2009 Mass Protests of Rigged Election.

2009- after the June 12 presidential election, opposition candidates Ali Hosseini and others lead mass protests againsts Ahmadinejad's claim of victory in a mssively rigged election. Security forces kill 3o and arrest 1,000. Iran blames the west, particularly Britain, for provoking the arrest.
August- Senior opposition figures are put on trial, allleged to have fomented unrest during the election protests. But Khamenei declares there is no proof they were motivated by foreign powers.
Protests Continue Despite Repression.
-with protestors increasingly breaking protest bans, opposition demonstrations are held on the 30th anniversary of the mass hostage-taking at the US Embassy.
December - Death of influential dissident cleric Grand Ayatollah Hoseyn Ali Montazeri triggers further clashes between opposition supporters and security forces. At least 8 people die in what is the worst violence since the contested presidential election.
2010- January - Iran executes two men arrested during the period of unrest that followed the disputed presidential election of June 2009. It also puts 16 people on trial over the Ashura Day opposition protests in December, when eight people were killed.

Opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi says the opposition will continue its peaceful struggle against the government.
-the government warns against further protests.
2011- -February 14- Iranian demonstrations break out in wave of unrest spreading from Tunisia and Egypt, throughout the Middle East.

RECENT BACKGROUND TO THE EVENTS. On March 23, 15 British sailors were seized by the Iranian coastguard on grounds that they had crossed into Iranian waters in the Persian Gulf. Britain claimed evidence to the contrary, showing that they were seized from Iraqi waters where Britain as the right to patrol. A diplomatic row erupted and Iran was suspected of retaliation against a new round of UN sanctions for its nuclear program and against the American detension of 5 Iranian Revolutionary Guard operatives in northern Iraq. In a series of Iranian television spots, each of the British sailors made a statement that they were being well treated and were guilty of crossing into Iranian waters. London pointed out that the declarations appeared staged and delivered under pressure.Since Mahmoud Ahmedinejad won the presidency in 2005, he has used his relatively powerless postion to assert a radical anti-western position with loud and strident rhetoric. Though it's believed quieter sectors of the government with greater authority are a little more reasonable, the president has set the tone for Iran's international position on its support of Iraqi Shia, Iranian nuclear capabality and the western and American presence in the Middle east.

In August of 2005, Iran resumed converting uranium at Isfahan, insisting it was for peaceful purposes. But the IAEA declared that Iran was violating the Non-proliferation treaty. In January, 2006, Iran further dug in its heels by breaking seals placed on equipment by the IAEA on the Natanz nuclear power plant. After further violations, on July 31, the UN Security Council demanded that Iran suspend its nuclear activities. After Iran ignored an August 31 deadline, the UN approved the imposition of sanctions on December 23.
In February-March, 2007 after further Iranian intransigence over its uranium enrichment the international committee took further measures. It is now suspected that Iran had in fact lost a game of brinksmanship in the nuclear negotiations and may have seized the British sailors as a distraction, if not to save face. A further humiliation may have been the American capture of 5 Iranian Revolutionary Guard members.

In the long view, it is interesting to note how the Brtish rule of Iraq, where it put down a Shia-led uprising in 1920, along with one-time British naval supremacy in the Persian Gulf and along Iran's south coast, seem to foreshadow this year's run-in between British and Iranian naval patrols.

Iran extended its defiance to the international community in April, 2007, announcing a massive expansion of its nuclear program with the IAEA estimating that Iran could make a nuclear explosive in three to eight years. Despite Iran's grudging assent to some nuclear inspections, the United States responded by tightening sanctions in October. But American intelligence sent a coontradictory message that Iran's nuclear weapons development had been overestimated.

The new year, 2008, saw a visit to Iraq by Ahmadinejad where he signed agreements to help rebuild the shattered country. The clerics in Terhan, meanwhile, kept a firm grip on power with a 2/3 majority of conservatives returned in parliamentary elections with many reform candidates disqualified from running. In the spring, the UN tightened sanctions on Iran while the IAEA insisted Iran was concealing parts of its nuclear program. Throughout the summer, Iran defied incentives and sanctions from Europe and the United States as it pressed ahead with what many believe is a nuclear weapons program.

A false warming in relations ensued in November as Ahmedinejad congratulated Barak Obama's election as US President. Indeed, in March, 2009 Supreme Leader Khamenei accused Obama of continuing the old Bush policy toward Teheran. However, there might have been a faint gesture to the contrary when Iran released US-Iranian journalist Roxana Sabiri, recently imprisoned for spying.

In June, Ahmadinejad's presidential election victory was met with mass demonstrations protesting widespread fraud. Security forces killed 30 and detained over 1,000 amid international protest while the government blamed the West, especially Britainm for fomenting the the mass street gatherings. Leading opposition candidate Ali Hosseini periodically led the demonstrators. As Ahmadinejad swore in his new cabinet in August, a large number of opposition figures were publicly put on trial for organizing the protests.

In September 2009, the focus turned to construction of a uranium plant in Qom which the regime insisted was for peaceful purposes while it tested missiles that could reach US installations in the Persian Gulf as well as Israel. In November, Mohammed El Baredei pressured Iran to accept an offer by western nations to help it enriich uranium abroad. In Teheran, meanwhile, thousands broke a ban on demonstrations by gathering to protest the 30th anniversary of the hostage-taking at the US embassy during the Iranian Revolution.

The end of the year sees the death of the Grand Ayatollah Montazzeri, an important reformist member of Iran's clergy. Demonstrations commemorating the Grand Ayatollah are again met with violence by the government with eight killed. The crackdown continues in January 2010 with two arrrested in the June demonstrations put to death and others from the continuing demonsrtrations at the end of 2009 put on trial. A prominent physics professor is mysteriously murdered in a bomb blast, with opposition groups claiming he had supported one of their candidates in the June elections.

In February 2010, Iran attempts to show good intentions, claiming it is ready to send unranium abroad for enrichment for non-military purposes and Washington asks Iranian officials to match their words with actions. However tensions continue as the US claims to have evidence that Iran is sending arms to the Taliban and Iran announces another successful series of missile tests. In May Teheran follows through with its February commitment ageeing to ship uranium to Turkey or Brazil for enrichment but US officials remain skeptical that it will prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. In June words are backed up by force as the UN Security Council brings down a fourth round of sanctions agains Iran, tightening the arms embargo and financial restrictions.

The focus shifts to human rights in July 2010 with international protest as an Iranian court sentences a woman charged with adultery and murder to death by stoning. Later in the month Brazil offers her asylum.

Iran claims significant progress in it nuclear program in August as its Bushehr nuclear plant is loaded with fuel, with Russia agreeing to provide more fuel in theory bringing the program closer to weapons capability. In September Washington, after perceiving that Iran's nuclear fuel swap and with Turkey and the latter's financial assistance are helping Iran to avoid sanctions, orders Turkey to desist with a threat to cancel a major arms deal.

DISTANT BACKGROUND TO THE EVENTS. It was the weakness of the Qajar Shahs that opened the way for direct British intervention in Persia. In the mid-nineteenth century the Qajars' heavy borrowing from European powers and the consequent debts encouraged those powers, especially Britain, to take direct control of the matter. The point of etnry was the southern coastline where Britain had naval supremacy.

Britain's grand strategy at the time was to protect its colony in India from southward Russian exppansion. To this end Britain had to counter Russia in Afghanistan as well as in Persia. As Russia took more terriory along Persia's northern border, extending its influence into Persia itself, the British replied, in 1892, by giving Persia a loan it couldn;t refuse and then seizing the customs duties in southern Persian seaports as collateral,

In 1907, Britain and Russia agreed to respective zones of influencewithin Persia, Russia claiming the northern half of the country and Britain the southeast, adjacent to its Indian colony of Balluchistan.

The discovery of oil in the years 1900 to 1910 only intensified British and Russian competition for influence in Persia but the prospect of domestically generated wealth also ignited a strong current of Persian nationalism which burns to this day. With British support, the new constitionalist movement pressured Mossafar al-Din Shah to create a national assembly, which, however, foundered in 1907, in part, due to Russian subversion.

The only thing to survive, it seemed, was the British-dominated Anglo Persian Oil company. With the first World War British supremacy was complete, the Russian revolution having led to the withdrawal of Russian influence in Persia. Now, Britian's Viceroy of India, Lord Curzon, saw Persia as the final link in the chain of British colonial power from India to Iraq, to the Mediterranean.

In 1919, a failing Persian ecomomy made it easy for Britain to make Persia a formal British Protectorate. Events today, involving the UN and Iraq were foreshadowed when Persia bridled at the severe resitriction of its influence in peace settlements at the end of the war. Tehran was further threatened when neighbouring Iraq became a British League of nations mandate. And in 1920, the Brtisih in Iraq violently suppressed a Sha-led rebellion in Iraq's south- a region seen by Iran's Shia majority as a sister in spirit.

When, in 1921, the British backed a coup, deposing the Shah in favour of an army officer, Reza Phalavi, they got more than they bargained for. Cleverly, the Reza Pahlavi made himself the new Shah, seized on Iran's new oil-fueled nationalism by renegotiating all foreign oil contracts, incuding that with Anglo-Persian Oil, in Persia's favour. He made a cult celebrating ancient Persian rulers, histpory and symbols as the spiritual basis for the modern state and empowered his country by playing off foreign rivals, against one another. Finally, he renamed Persia Iran, in memory of its founding Aryan people. In 1925, he made Iran once and for all independent. In 1951 Britian was still an influential power in Iran when am ultra-nationist president, Mohammed Mossadiq, challenged the outside world by nationalzing Iran's oil production once and for all.

The dream of a new Iran died when the British and the CIA worked in concert to protect their oil interests by staging a coup, removing Mossadiq from power and then backing the young Shah Pahlavi, son of Reza, as their tool. When he was overthrown in 1979 and Iran fell under the iron rule of a clerical, Shia theocracy, British and all other foreign influence inside the country came to an end.

When the British returned to the region in 2003 by taking part in the American invasion of neighbouring Iraq and occupying Iraq's Shia south , it could only bring back bad memories of the British-led repression of a Shia-led revolt there in 1920.- And the patrolling of British ships in the Persian Gulf could only recall Britain's naval supremacy in Persian waters in the 19th century.

REMOTE BACKGROUND TO THE EVENTS. The British were able to build on commercial links with Persia ever since the establishment of a British overland trade route in 1561. In the second half of the eighteenth century, Britain further established factories in Persia at Bushire and at Basra, respectively on the east side and at the head of the Persian Gulf (not far from where the British sailors were seised by Iran in 2007) British attention was more forcefully turned to Persia in 1798 by Napoleon's Egyptian campaign by which the French hoped to challenge British dominance in India and the Indian ocean. Britian's first step in protecting India was to induce Persia to attack Afghanistan which was trying to establish its own empire in the region.

In the same year, Persia's modern histroy began with the rise to power of the Qajar Shahs whose long decline would, for more than a century, be accompanied by the increasing influence of foreign powers, particularly Britain. In 1800, Britian ratified an alliance with Persia by which Persia and India were assured mutual protection from outside powers such as Russia and France. This, of course was more to English than Persian advantage. In 1806, France responded to the British initiative by signing an agreement with Persia and sending a mission to train the Persian army. In 1814, at the wane of the Napoleonic wars, the victorious Brtisih responded in turn by signing an Anglo-Persian pact which forced Persia to abolish any treaties with European powers hostile to Britain.

Britain further flexed its muscles in the region by controlling neighbouring Afghanistan and when the Persians asserted a historic claim to the east Persian city of Herat, Britain stopped them, retaking it on behalf of the Afghans. British resolve around Persia increased after Russia seized control of the Caspian Sea and regions to the east and to the west in Persia's northern marches.

Persia was finally and effectively hemmed in on the east when she tried again to seize Herat in 1856. The British declared war, forcing Persia to recognize Afghan indepence in 1857. Heavy borrowing by the Qajar Shahs further weakened Persia, leaving it increasingly to the mercy of British and Russian territorial ambitions. Russia, after all, was looking for a southeen Port and Britain wanted both Afghanistan and Persia as buffers to protect her Indian colony from Russian expansion. By poviding loans and development, Brtiain gained further control over Persia The discovery of oil in Persia, which hadn't the means to exploit it, put an end to any vestige of autonomy. But if foreign, mostly British, interests won concessions on Persian oil, the new resource also sparked intense nationalism. With nationalism came pressures for parliamentary government, granted by the Shah in 1907.

CROSS-CENTURY SUMMARY: The history of Iran can be seen, if figuratively, as a series of successive movements of liberation, each with a claim to Iranian, or 'Aryan' identity on the Iranian plateau: an identity defended from misrule from within and from ambitons without: an identity seen to be dinstinct from the Graeco-Romans and Arabs to the west, the peoples of India to the East and the Mongols and Turks to the north. Hence, we have the Medes rescuing the peoples of the plateau from the Assyrians, the Achaeminids releasing Iran from the Medes, the Parthians rescuing it from the Achaeminids, the Achaeminids crumbling before the Greek Seleucids, the native Parthians throwing out the Seleucids and then holding back the Roman Empire for four centuries. Pressures from within and without caused the Parthian rule to collapse and be replaced, again from within, by the Sassanids. Pressure by Byzantium and by Islamic conquest from Arabia ended Sassinid rule and Iran is further subjected to domination by the Mongols and Turks in the 13th and 14th centuries. In the 16th century a Persian, if Islamic revival was brought about by the Safavids whose adoption of Shiism in the face of a Sunni majority in the Islamic world, would contribute to the revivial of an Iranian exceptionalism. Safavid rule is seen to represent the apogee of Persian culture. It ended in the early eighteenth century when it was supplanted by an Afghan dynasty. The late eighteenth century saw a brief revival under the Zands. The Qajars who succeeded them were the last traditional Persian dynasty.

The weakness of the Qajars throughout the 19th and early 20th century led to Persia's subjugation by foreign territorial and colonial interests. It seems inevitable that Iran would sooner or later attempt to rescue and to defend an ancient sense of identity dating back to the expulsion of the Assyrians by the Medes from the Iranian plateau. The assertion and revivial of 'Iran' arrrived rather paradoxically with a British-backed coup overthrowing the Qajars. The new Shah Pahlavi turned on his colonialist allies and created a new Iranian nationalism which recalaimed its pre-Islamic history. The discovery of oil and its gradual nationalization gave economic power to a reborn Iranian identity. With history and oil wealth being recovered, the replacement of the Pahalvi dynasty with a Shia revolution restored the religious component.
Meanwhile, Israeli, American and British foreign policy and the Anglo-American occupation of Iraq have only served to strengthen the Iranian revivial and to encourage Iran's intransigence in its pursuit of neculear dominance in the region.

TIMELINE OF IRANIAN HISTORY:

THE ARYANS

2000 BC- Indo Iranians migrate from southern Russia. Median and Iranian tribes settle on the Iranian plateau.

2000- 750 BC- Iranian tribes and city states.

THE MEDIANS

650 BC- the Median clan provides the Iranians with independence from the Assyrians.

650-559 BC- The Median Empire.

CYRUS THE GREAT.- THE ACHAEMINIDS.

559 BC- Cyrus the Great leads a Persian revolt against the Medes.

500-330 BC- the Persian Achaeminid Empire expands from Iran to Egypt.

546 BC –The Persians take Anatolia.

530-522- BC Cambyses, son of Cyrus takes Egypt, Libya and part of Nubia.

521-486- BC- Darius the Great extends the empire as far as the Aegean and Macedonia; and in the east as far as the Indus. He developes a sophisticated Imperial administration based on the Assyrian model.

513 BC- Darius the Great fails to defeat the Scythians.

THE GREEK-PERSIAN WARS.

512- Darius the Great takes Thrace.

490- Darius the Great invades Greece. He is defeated at Marathon.

480- Darius the Great’s army is defeated at Thermopylae; his navy is destroyed at Salamis.

404-343 BC- Egypt is independent from Persia.

ALEXANDER AND THE SELEUCIDS

323-330 BC- conquest of the Persian Empire by Alexander of Macedon.

312-63 BC- the Seleucid Empire covers most of the Middle East, save for Egypt.

PARTHIA

248 BC- the Parthians revolt and take Iran back from the Greek Seleucids.

248 BC- 224 AD- the Parthians maintain an empire in Iran.

171-138 BC- Mithridates I of Iran.

53 BC - Parthia defeats Rome at the Battle of Carrhae.

216-277 AD- Mani founds the Manichaean belief in Iran.

THE SASSINIDS

224- 651 AD- Sassanid Empire in Iran.

239-272- Emperor of Iran- Shapur I.

259- Shapur defeats the Romans, captures Valerian.

440-552- Hephthalite Huns penetrate Iran and India.

531-579- Khosrow I Anusharvan, Sassanid emperor of Iran.

591-628- Khosrow II Parviz, Sassanid emperor of Iran.

614-616- Sassanids conquer Syria, Jerusalem and Egypt.

627- Dastagird, the Sassanid city of palaces is sacked by the Byzantines.

ISLAM

636-651- the Muslim Arab conquest of Persia.

819-1062- Persia ruled by the Sunni Saminids, winning favour with the Abassids because of Shia Buyid rule of Baghdad.
-the Saminids restore elements of pre-Islamic Iranian culture, creating a sense of Persian nationalism.
1020- Mahmud of Ghazni, an East Afghanistan Turkic warlord and mercenary for the Abbasid Muslims, secedes to form his own dynasty.

1000, circa-- the Turks invade, making several states in Iran.

THE MONGOLS

1225- Mongol conquest of Iran.

1335- the rule of the Ilkhanid Mongols collapses in Iran.

-mid-1300s- extreme instability in Iran and Iraq

TAMERLANE

1381-1387- Persia conquered by Tamerlane.

1405-1506- a dwlindling empire of Tamurlane's successors in eastern Iran.

1405-47- Tamerlane's son, Shah Rukh rules from Herat.

THE SAFAVIDS

1501-1524- Shah Ismail founds the Iranian Safavid dynasty and establishes Shiism as the relgion of Persia.

1514- the Seljuk Turk Selim the Great defeats the Persians at Caldiran.

1524- Persiams conquer Baghdad.

1561- English begin overland trade with Persia.

1588-1629- Shah Abbas I- Safavid emperor of Iran.

-Abbas hires two Englaishmen to reorganize tribal fighters into a national army.

-Abbas takes Baghdad back from the Ottomans and recovers Armenian territories.

-Abbas starts a Persian revivial. Culture flourishes. He makes Shiism the state reglion- ends religious tolerance. Poer is given to the clergy.

-Shah Abbas drives the Portugeuse from the Pesian Gulf and begins trade with Great Britain.

1629- death fo Shah Abbas.

1638 -Persia fights religious wars with the Ottoman Turks who take baghdad.

1722- thr Afghans ovethrow the weak Shah Hussein.

THE AFSHARS

1736- Nadir Shah expels the Afghans and establishes the Afshar dynasty.

1738- Nadir Shah invades and loots India.

THE ZANDS

1750-1794- the Zand Dynasty of Karim Khan- the capital is moved to Shiraz where a spectacular building program follows.

-peace and prosperity under the Zand dynasty.

1763- British establish a factory at Bushire

1770- British establish a factory at Basra

THE QAJARS

1794- the tyrant Aga Muhammad Khan.overthrows the Zands and establishes the Qajar Dynasty.

1797- Khan is assassinated.

1794-1925- the Qajar dynasty is a period of decline in which Persia sowly loses territory as Russia along with European nations exercise increasing influence.

1797-1834- Under Fath Ali Shah Persia is forced to give up the Causacus to Russia.

1798- The Brtish, to protect India, induce Persia to attack Afghanistan.

1798- Napoleon’s campaign in Egypt, intended to open a trade route to the Indian Ocean and the east- gets the attention of the British.

1800-Governor of Bombay sends an Indian messenger and British enviy, Sir John Malcom to the Shah. A Persian-British treaty is signed assuring the mutual protection of India and Persia.

1804- Persia at war with Russia.

1806- Napoleon sends a diplomatic mission to Iran, worrying the British. As a result, France sends a mission to train the Persian army.

1814- Formal Anglo-Persian treaty. Persia must cancel all treaties with European powers hostile to Britain.

-Herat is taken by the Afghans. After Persia tries to reclaim the city, the British intervene on behalf of Afghainistan.

1826-1828- Russo-Persian war. The Russian fleet wins control of the Caspian.

1856- Persians take Herat. Britain declares war on Persia.

1857- Persia is forced by the British to recognize Afghan independence.

-Britain and Russia start to compete over Persia; Britain is also concerned to protect its Indian possessions with Persia and Afghanistan as buffers against Russia.

-Russia takes Tiflis and Tashkent, west of Caspian.

-heavy borrowing from European powers by the Qajar Shahs leads to indebtedness and foreign intervention.

-Britain sees the opportunity of colonizing Persia from its southern coastline.

-1864- British complete the Persian section of the Britain-India telegraph line.

1864- Russia moves into Turkestan and takes Tashkent, east of Caspian..

1892- Britain gives Persia a loan, seizing its customs duties in the port cities as collateral.

1896- assassination of Nasiruddin Shah.

THE DISCOVERY OF OIL AND THE ARRIVAL OF EUROPE

1900-1910- the discovery of oil in Persia results in intense rivalry between Russia and Great Britain.

1901- New Zeander WK D’Arcy gets an oil concession in Iran.

1905- nationalist revolution begins in Persia.

1906- Mozaffar al-Din Shah concedes a constitution under pressure from constitutionalists and with the encouragement of the British ambassador. This limits concessions to foreign companies.

1907- the Anglo-Russian agreement divides Persia into northern Russian, neutral center and British southern spheres of influence. Islamic traditionalists launch violent protests.

1907- Constitutional revolution under Shah Muzzafar al Din Qajar provides an elected assembly (Majlis)

1909- the Russians crush Persia’s constitutionalist movement.

-Anglo-Persian Oil Company founded.

1911- The constitution fails along with the assembly.

1914- World War I- Turkish, Russian and British troops operate in Persia against German influence- despite Persian neutrality.

-Winston Churchill, Lord of the Admiralty, buys 55 per cent of the Anglo Persian oil company.

1917- Russian influence in Persia lapses with the Russian Revolution. Britain withdraws her troops but struggles to maintain a presence.

THE BRITISH PROTECTORATE

-collapse of the Ottoman Empire leaves Britain the dominant power in the region.

-Persians angry that Persia is not given room to state its case in peace negotiations at the end of the WW I.

-Persia is threatened when Iraq becomes a British League of Nations mandate.

-Lord Curzon sees in Persia an opportunity to link British influence from India to Iraq.

1919- British subsidies support the collapsed Iranian economy. In that year Iran becomes a British protectorate under the Anglo-Persian agreement which the majlis refuses to ratify. The agreement includes British officers and advisers for the Persian army and government, a large loan to pay for them, and British development of transport and communications.

-the U.S. and France fear that the Anglo-Persian Agreement will curtail opportunities for those countries inside Persia, giving the British a monopoly. Lord Curzon says the presence of American advisers would have to be approved by Britain. Hence, US advisers in the region supported the aims of Persian nationalism.

-1920- internal opposition to the Anglo-Persian agreement results in Persia turning toward the the U.S. (which was increasingly interested in Persian oil). The U.S. responds by objecting to the unfairness of the British monopoly on Persian oil and negotiations are commenced for for Amercan insyead of British aid, development and advisers.

-however, the US does not favour displacing Britain outright, since it sees the British as a bulwark against Russia and Communism.

1921- a British-backed coup by an officer, Reza Pahlavi overthrows the government of Fathullah Gillani. . Pahlavi gets the Majlis to depose the Qajar dynasty and make him Shah.

-Pahlavi exploits Bolshevik fear of the British to get Russia to withdraw completely. He then drives out British and Russian-supported separatist movements.

-Reza Shah Pahlavi creates a strong, centralized government, renegotiates oil concessions given to the Anglo-Persian Oil Company and reforms the economy, getting more control over foreign companies and making them pay more in taxes and royalties. He plays Germany off against Britian and Russia.

-the Shah also makes a public cult of Iran’s ancient Achaemenid, Sassinid and Parthian history.

PAHLAVI, INDEPENDENCE, REVIVIAL

1925- Iran becomes independent from Britain and Russia.

1928- Reza Shah sets up the Bank of Iran to oppose the British Imperial Bank.

1933- Shah Pahlavi changes the name of Perisa to Iran, derived from “Aryan”.

-Pahlavi cancels the concession of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company.

-Pahliavi’s independence policy is ratified by the League of Nations.

-Iran’s gradual modenization begins to be decried by the Shia clergy.

1941- Opposed to Iran’s neutrality in the war with Germany, Britain and Russia occupy Iran and depose Pahlavi in favour of his son, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi. US, Russian and British advisers all try to influence Iranian policy toward respective national ends.

-US military advisers arrive and US army units help transport military equipment on the Trans-Iranian railroad.

-US advisers are accepted in all key financial departments of government. US adviser Millspaugh was made director general of finances, for November 1942 and May, 1943. The Full Powers law gave him financial control that was almost absolute. He favoured private enterprise over government corporations.

1942-43- US advisers more or less run the Iranian army. Colonel Norman Schwarzkopf reorganizes internal security along American lines.

1944- US Adviser Millspaugh excites popular protest by attempting to fire the head of the Iranian National Bank. Millspaugh resigns, most of his attempts at reform having failed.

-popular sentiment rises against the British interests and presence in Iran.

THE U.S. AND POST-WAR DEVELOPMENT.

-theUS takes the lead in stabilizing Iran.

1948- Iran puts forward a 7-year economic plan heavily influenced by Max W. Thornburg, a US oil executive and adviser, whose Overseas Consultants Inc. is instrumental in drafting it. There are no recommendations for land reform or political or social reform, only technological advance. State ownership is blamed for all social and economic ills.

-the 7-year economic plan is passed by the majlis.

-1951- the 7-Year Economic Plan fails; its government administrators are universally blamed for failures of implementation. Overseas Consultants' contract is terminated. The existing social status quo will remain the basis for all Washington's future US planning for Iran's economy.

PRIME MINISTER MUSSADIQ

-1951- March- Britain negotiates for a high share of oil royalties, US ambassador Henry Grady backs Iranian nationalists, since the US doesn't want to see Britain getting a competitive deal on Iranian oil. However, the US will come to side with Britain in seeing nationalist Prime Minister Mussadiq as a fanatic.

1951- Mossadiq travels to the US to ask the Truman administration for a loan. Washington refuses his request, having now swung round to join the British in opposing nationalization of Iranian oil.

- Prime Minister Mohammed Mussadiq, a nationalist, nationalizes the Anglo-Iranian oil company.

- Britain protests, stopping oil exports. The Majlis votes Mussadiq emergency powers.

-the US supports British attempts to arrange a world-wide boycott of Iranian oil.

-the British and the Americans fear a non-Communist nationalist movement as an even greater danger than Iranian Communism.
-rumours are rife of a British invasion.

-at the UN, Mossadiq insists on Iran’s right to ownership of its oil

-US President Truman sends an envoy to Mossadiq but doesn't get any compromise on the nationalization of Iranian oil.

-US, Great Britain and other western nations begin to boycott Iran.

1953- after a struggle with Mossadiq over control of the Defense Ministry, an attempt by the Shah to dismiss Mossadiq is protested by nationalist riots, the Shah leaves Iran.

-however, the army remains in support of the Shah.

-June, 1953- under pressure of international isolation, Mossadiq's coalition crumbles.

PRO-WESTERN CIA COUP: AN END TO MOSSADIQ

-the British engineer a plan for Mossadiq's removal. It is simplified in the US by Kermit Roosevelt who then passes it on to Allen Dulles of the CIA. When it is approved by Eisenhower, Roosevelt goes to Iran to put the plan into operation through local contacts.

-the CIA, especially aware of the Shah as an asset against Communism, works with Monarchist officers bringing about the overthrows and arrest of Mossadiq and the return of the Shah. Mossadiq is sentenced to two years in prison.

-the CIA helps to organize mass, paid demonstrations to welcome back the Shah.

-the United States immediately supplies a$45 million emergency loan.

-with the deterioration of relations with Britain, Iran becomes more and more of a US client state. Traditionalist clergy and the poor are increasingly wary of modernization and US influence.

-the US has replaced Britain as the main foreign power in Iran.

1954- the Shah offers oil concessions to an international consortium which includes the US and Britain. Of the American members, Standard Oil of New Jersey, Standard Oil of California, the Gulf Oil Coroporation, the Texas Oil Company and Socony-Mobil each get 8 per cent. These five, later gave up 1 per cent each to US 'independents'. The total is a US investment of 40%.

-Iran joins the Baghdad Pact which links Iran, Pakistan, Turkey and Britain.

1950s- Iran, with US help launches its own nuclear program.

1960- the U.S. has become a net importer of oil.

1963- land reform reduces the power of the landlords.

PAHLAVI’S TYRANNY

-repressing the secular and clerical opposition and the landed aristocracy, the Shah sets up a police state to pave the way for capitalism. The oil cartel of the 1970s makes Iran wealthy.

-with police repression, only clerical networks remain active. Meanwhile mass urban migration creates a stratun of urban power.

THE REGIME CRUMBLES

1970- protests build against the Shah’s regime.

-U.S. oil production peaks and begins to decline.

-1972- the US accepts Shah Reza Phalavi as the main local power protecting the Persian gulf and agrees to sell Iran any non-nuclear weapons. The US already has colonies of technical advisers in Iran.

1972-73- the Shah is alert to arguments of ecologists that the US was using up the world's oil reserves oil too fast because oil is under priced. He is also aware that raw materials and commodities such as farm products are rising in price. The Shah therefore works on leaders of other oil-exporting Middle-Eastern countries to slow the production of oil thus rising the price. Opposition to the state of Israel provides additional incentive.

1975- Iran is the single largest purchaser of military equipment from the US.

-although Iraq appears to be moving toward becoming a regional, if not a world power, it is in fact heavily dependent on the US.

-the Carter administration, although critical of Iran on human rights still prefers the Shah to any truly popular government as a bulwark against the Soviet Union

1977- a protest movement begins under the guidance of Ruholla Khomeini from exile in Najaf.

1978- The US State Department of Human Rights, with its aggressive critique of Iran, undermines the Shah's authority.

-the heavy presence of foreign advisors and technicians and Iran's own technological backwardness lead many to feel that it is becoming an instrument of the United States. Many workers and merchants forced out by competition of technologically sophisticated state industries.

1978- an alliance of Marxists and radical Shia clerics overthrows the Pahlavi regime.

-anti-monarchist Shapur Bakhtiar becomes Prime Minister but the clergy mistrust him.

1979- January- the Shah goes into exile.

-attempts to set up a constitutional government fail.

-Prime Minister Bakhtiar is replaced by Mehdi Bazargan.

1979- April- after several attempts at a Monarchist coup are made, Iran is proclaimed an Islamic republic under the Ayatollah Ruholla Khomeini.

-the US recognizes the Khomeini regime- but is blamed for supporting the Shah. Mass denunciations of the US follow. But the regime simultaneously denounces the Soviet Union.

-US diplomats in Tehran try to form links with the new regime but are rebuffed.

-Iran suspends its nuclear energy program.

-the Khomeini regime begins to give support to the Afghan Mujehadeen.

KHOMEINI

1979-81- after the Shah is given asylum and medical treatment in the United States, US embassy personnel are held hostage by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards for over a year. The government fully endorses the hostage-taking.

-as the hostage-taking is universally condemned in a vote at the UN, it becomes clear that Iran is standing in complete defiance of a three-century tradition in international relations of the immunity of diplomats. Iran is no longer playing by rules and agreements taken for granted in the West.

-the US retaliates with sanctions against Iran and the freezing of Iranian assets in the US.

-Iran resumes its nuclear energy program with less help from the US and more from other countries.

-November- the Revolutionary Council of clerics forces out Bazargan and ousts most of the Revolutionary coalition.

1980- US President Carter declares the Persian Gulf region to be an area vital to US interests.

1981- On the day Ronald Reagan is elected president, the Iranians release the US embassy hostages.

THE IRAN-IRAQ WAR

1980- Saddam Hussein of Iraq tries to seize the Shatt al Arab waterway from Tehran, setting off the Iran-Iraq war.

-under US President Reagan, Washington supports Iraq against Iran with massive weapons shipments.

-the war only strengthens the hold of Khomeini and his government over the country.

-1982- repudiating dependence on western commercial goods, Iran reduces imports and embarks on a program of self-sufficiency.

1986- the US sells weapons to Iran and funnels the proceeds to the Contras in Nicaragua, setting off the Iran-Contra scandal.

1987-88- then US retaliates against Iranian attacks on US shipping in the Persian gulf, sinking several Iranian ships.

1988 -realizing that Iran cannot fight Iraq much longer, Khomeini agrees to a ceasefire.

1988- the Iran-Iraq war ends with the loss of one million Iranian lives.

TENTATIVE REFORM

1989- Khomeini dies. After a power struggle, another cleric, Hashemi Rafsanjani becomes speaker of the Majlis and Ayatollah Khamenei replaces Khomeini.

1991- During the US invasion of Iraq in the First Gulf War, Iran gives refugee to 1.5 million Iraqi Kurds and Shia.

1992-97- Clinton critical of Iran's hostility to the peace process with Israel and the Palestinians; Iranian support of organizations deemed terrorist in the Middle East, and the Iranian nuclear weapons program.

1993- Rafsanjani’s attempt at the creation of a mixed economy and low oil prices weaken the country’s economy.

May-US President Clinton announces policy of 'dual containment' which includes partial economic sanctions on Iraq and Iran.

1995- April- US president Clinton imposes a total embargo of US business dealings with Iran.

1997- Rafsanjani is defeated in elections by Muhammed Khatemi, a relative liberal. He brings liberal reforms to the political system.

1998- January- President Khatami, in an interview on CNN calls for a "a dialogue of civilizations" and expresses admiration for US political traditions. But findamental differences of policy remain unchanged.

1999- Under Khatemi, Iran holds its first elections.

2000- reformers win a majority in the Majlis.

IRAN AND 9/11

2001- Khatami and Khamenei condemn the 9/11 on the US attacks for killing innocent civilians.

-November 2001- Iran stays officially neutral in the US invasion of Afghanistan but provides
covert assistance in expelling the Taliban from Kabul and in instating Hamid Karzai as president.

-December- Bonn Conference on the reconstruction of Afghanistan- Tehran supports alll US initiatives in Afghanistan.

2002- January- -US President George Bush lists Iran with North Korea and Iraq in the “Axis of Evil.”

Sept- Russia starts building a nuclear reactor at Bushehr despite US protests.

2003- March- the US invades Iraq. Though mistrustful of the US at first, Iraq’s two largest Shia parties, the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq and Al Dawa, both backed by Iran, come to represent the Shia of Iraq.

Sept- the IAEA asks that Iran prove it’s not developing a nuclear weapons program.

2004- April-September- radical, nationalist Shia militia leader, Moqtada al Sadr launches two rebellions, with Iranian support, against the US occupation.

2004- June- the IAEA criticizes Iran for its failure to cooperate with inspections.

November- the European Union gets Iran to agree to a deal to suspend its nuclear enrichment program.

-2004-2006- through charities and Revolutionary Guard Units, allowed to act semi-independently, Iran spreads influence among Iraq’s Shia majority.

2005- Mahmoud Ahmedinejad wins the presidency, defeating Hashemi Rafsanjani.

August- Iran resumes converting uranium at Isfahan, insisting it’s for peaceful purposes. But the IAEA syas that Iran is violating the Non-proliferation treaty.

2006- January- at its Natanz nuclear plant, Iran breaks seals placed on equipment by the IAEA.

February- As Iran resumes nuclear enrichment at Natanz, the IAEA votes to report the violations to the UN Security Council.

April- Iran claims to be enriching Uranium at natanz.

July 31- the UN Scurity Council demands that Iran suspend its nuclear activities.

Aug. 31- the deadline set by the Security Council for Iran to stop its uranium enrichment activities.

Dec 23- the UN security council approves the impostion of sanctions on Iran in nuclear.

Technology and trade. Iran continues enriching uranium.

Iranian Seizure of British Seamen.

2007- March 23- 15 British sailors are seized by the Iranian coastguard on grounds that they had crossed into Iranian waters. Britain claims evidence to the contrary, that they were seized from Iraqi waters. A diplomatic row erupts with the Iran suspected of retaliating against a new round of UN sanctions for its nuclear program and against the American detension of 5 Iranian Guard operatives in northern Iraq.

Iran Continues Uranian Enrichment.

April- Ahmedinejad announces increased, industrial scale of uranium production. IAEA says that Iran has 1,300 centrifuges.

May- IAEA declares that Iran woould need only 3-8 years to produce a nuclear weapon.

June- amid fears of UN sanctions Iran rations gasoline, sparking protests.

July- Iran agrees to allow IAEA inspectors to visit its Arak nuclear plant.

October- US announces its toughest snactions on Iran in 30 years.

December- A US intelligence report produces a reduced evaluation of the nuclear threat posed by Iran.

2008- February- Iran launches a rocket, announcing its own space program.

March- Agemdinejad visits Iraq, demand the withdrawal of foreign troops and signs some copperation agreements with Baghdad, vowing to help reuild the country.

Many Opposition Candidates Barred from Parliamentary Elections.

-parliamentary elections return a 2/3 majority of conservatives, with many reform candidates barred from running. Moderate conservatives embarrassed by Ahmedinejad also win seats.

-UN Security Council tightens sanctions on Iran.

May- IAEA says Iran is witholding information on its nuclear program. Former nuclear negotiator Ali Larigani is elected speaker of the parliament.

Iran Presses Ahead with Uranium Enrichment and Space Technology

June- Javier Solana, EU foreign minister offers Iran trade benefits, which Tehran warns it will refuse if they involve restrictions on the refinement of uranium.

July- Iran tests a long-range missile than can hit targets as far as Irael.

August- Iran lets pass and informal deadline to halt its nuclear program or forego incentives offered by western nations,

Iran tests a rocket which it says can launch a satellite.

November- Minister Ali Kordan is dismissed by parliament after admitting a degree received from Oxford was fake, embarrassing Ahmadinejad.

Iran Extends Guarded Congratulations upon Obama's Election as US President.

Ahmadinejad surprises everyone by congratulating Barak Obama on his election as US president. Obama offers unconditional discussions of Iran's nuclear program.

December- Iran closes a human rights office headed by nobel peace prize winner Shirin Abadi, saying it is an illegal political organization.

2009- February- On the 30th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, Ahmadinejad claims he would welcome open and respectful talks with the US.

Khamenei Contradicts Ahmadinejad's Welcome to Obama

March- Ayatollah Khameini tells anti-US rally that Obama is merely prolonging the old Bush policy.

April- Roxana Sabiri, an Iranian-American journalist is sentenced by and Iranian court to 8 years for spying.

May- a US State Department report states that Iran is the world's foremost exporter of terrorism. Iran dismisses the finding.

-after international pressure, Roxana Sabiri is freed by Iran.

Protestors Shot Demonstrating against massive fraud in Ahmadinejad's Election Victory.

July- under pressure from Supreme Leader Khamenei, Ahmadinejad fires his first vice president, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie.

August- Ahmadinejad is sworn in as president and forms his cabinet which includes a number of women- the first since 1979.

Opposition Members put on Public Trial for Abetting Election Fraud Protests.

Senior opposition figures are put on trial, allleged to have fomented unrest during the election protests. But Khamenei declares there is no proof they were motivated by foreign powers.

September- Iran concedes it is building a plant for enriching uranium near Qom but claims it is for peaceful purposes.

Iran tests long and medium ranges that could hit Israel or US bases in the Persian Gulf.

October 2009- Five UN Security Council members plus Germany offer to help Iran enrich its uranium abroad.

November- IAEA head Mohammed El Baredei recommends that Iran accept the five-nation offer on uranium.

Further occasions provide pretext for mass demonstations.
-with protestors increasingly breaking protest bans, opposition demonstrations are held on the 30th anniversary of the mass hostage-taking at the US Embassy.

2009 December - Death of influential dissident cleric Grand Ayatollah Hoseyn Ali Montazeri triggers further clashes between opposition supporters and security forces. At least 8 people die in what is the worst violence since the contested presidential election.

2010 January - Iran executes two men arrested during the period of unrest that followed the disputed presidential election of June 2009. It also puts 16 people on trial over the Ashura Day opposition protests in December, when eight people were killed.
Iranian physics professor Masoud Ali-Mohammadi is killed in a bomb attack in Tehran. No group claims responsibility. The government accuses the US and Israel of his death, while Iranian opposition groups say Mr Mohammadi supported one of their candidates in last year's presidential election.

Iran finally agrees to ship uraniumfor enrichment abroad.
2010 February - Iran says it is ready to send enriched uranium abroad for further enrichment under a deal agreed with the West. The US calls on Tehran to match its words with actions.
Opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi says the opposition will continue its peaceful struggle against the government.
-the government warns against further protests.
April 2- A US official says that Iran is shipping arms to the Taliban.
April 25- Iran announces that it has tested five new missoiles.

Iran arranges to ship Uranium to Turkey. Deal Sparks new Sanctions.
2010 May - Iran reaches a deal to send uranium abroad for enrichment after mediation talks with Turkey and Brazil; Western states respond with scepticism, saying the agreement will not stop Iran from continuing to enrich uranium.
2010 June - UN Security Council votes in favour of a fourth round of sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme, including tighter financial curbs and an expanded arms embargo.

Woman sentenced to death by Stoning.
July 5- international outcry as a woman convicted of adultery and murder is sentenced to be stoned to death. On July 8, the government upholds the death sentence by denies she will die by stoning.
July 15- two suicide bombrings reported in southeastern Iran in front of the city's main mosque.
July 23-31- amid rallies for the woman under sentence of death by stoning, Brazil offers her asylum.
2010 August - In what Tehran describes as a milestone in its drive to produce nuclear energy, engineers begin loading fuel into the Bushehr nuclear power plant.
-Russia agrees to fuel the Iranian nuclear reactor, bringing it closer to weapons capability.

US warns Turkey Against Nuclear fuel swap with Iran
2010- September 6- the US warns Turkey that it must cancel a controversial nuclear fuel swap along with financial assistance to Iran, both intended to help Iran evade international sanctions- otherwise Turkey will lose a valuable arms deal with the US.
-8 senior Iranian officials receive tough sanctions from the US for human rights abuses.
October- sentence commuted for former British embassy employee jailed in 2000.
December- Geneva nuclear talks between Iran and leadign nations end in agreement to hold another round in Istanbul in january.
-Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki fired by President Ahmedinejad. The minister seems to have been an opponent within the leadership.
2011- January - Iran now possesses technology needed to make fuel plates and rods for nuclear reactors according to nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi.
-January -Iran's IAEA envoy, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, reports that his country supports a nuclear deal agreed with Brazil and Turkey-after Iran and six main powers meet in Istanbul, the talks having ended without progress.

Mubarak Steps Down, Hands over Power to the Military

2011-02-11T19:25:00.000-08:00

HISTORY IN THE NEWS:

History never dies. It is reborn every minute of every day.

DEDICATED TO THE ORIGINS OF CONTEMPORARY EVENTS AROUND THE WORLD.

TAG: There have only been six changes of regime in Egypt- starting with the British occupation in 1881 and ending with Mubarak's succession after the assassination of Anwar Sadat.

IN THE NEWS: VICE PRESIDENT SULEIMAN ANNOUNCES MUBARAK'S IMMEDIATE RESIGNATION WITHPOWER BEING HANDED OVER TO GENERAL TANTAWI AT THE HEAD OF THE MILITARY. THE MILITARY HAS PROMISED ONLY TO HOLD POWER TEMPORARILY UNTIL FREE AND FAIR ELECTIONS ARE HELD.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: There have been few changes of power in Egypt since the British occupied the country in 1881. In 1951, King Faruq was briefly king of an indepedent Egypt. Nasser and Naguib overthrew the king and ruled briefly until Nasser pushed out Naguib. Nasser resigned briefly after the 1967 war but was brought back by popular demand. Sadat succeeded him upon his death in 1970. Sadat was assassinated in 1981 and succeeded by Hosni Mubarak.

IN HISTORY: Britain, having taken control of Egypt in 1882, declares the country a protectorate in 1914 at the outbreak of World War I. In 1951, the Wafd Party abrogates the Anglo-Egyptian Treaty, declares King Faruq sovereign of Egypt and Sudan and pressures the British to withdraw for good. Rioting follows and the king dismisses the Wafd government in 1951. The Free Officers group, led by Col Abdul Nasser and General Muhammed Neguib mount a coup, overthrowing the monarchy and exiling the king to Italy.Neguib, at the head of the Revolutionary Ruling Council, is appointed President and Prime Minister and chooses a parliamentary system of government. Nasser, now head of the still-powerful RCC, opposes and overrules him, effectively forcing him out. Quickly going his own way, Nasser bans the Wafd and all other parties in 1953. Instead he brings out a single party, the Liberation Rally. In 1967, Nasser's prestige irreversibly damaged by the Six Day War, he resigns but is recalled by popular demand. Upon Nasser's death in 1970, Anwar Sadat succeeds him as president of Egypt. Long simmering hatred among Islamists over the peace with Israel explodes when Sadat is assassinated in 1981 by militant army officers during a review. He is succeeded by Hosni Mubarak.

RELEVANT DATES:
Britain

1882- Britain occupies Egypt.
King Faruq
1951- Oct- the Wafd annuls the the 1936 Anglo-Egyptian Treaty, declares Faruq king of Egypt and Sudan and demands immediate British withdrawal from the Suez Canal Zone. Guerillas and leftist Wafd members begin attacks on the British.
Nasser.
1952 July -the charismatic Col. Abdul Nasser and Gen. Muhammed Neguib leading the Free Officers overthrow King Faruq and exile him to Italy. The new Revolutionary Command Council (RCC) is led by Neguib. Neguib, as president and premier, favours parliamentary system but Nasser, at head of the Free Officers, overrules him.
1954- full British withdrawal from Egypt.
1967- through premptive attcks by Israel- Syria, Jordan and Egypt decisively defeated by Israel in the Six-Day War. Nasser loses prestige in his own country.
-Nasser resigns, is reinstated by popular demmand.
Sadat
1970- death of Nasser. Anwar Sadat becomes president.
1981- Sadat is assassinated by Islamist officers during a military review.

-Sadat is succeeded by Hosni Mubarak, whose conciliatory approach to the Arab world wins him backing at home and Egypt readmittance to the Arab League.
CONTENTS: SCROLL DOWN FOR:
RELEVANT DATES

DISTANT BACKGROUND TO THE EVENTS
RECENT BACKGROUND TO THE EVENTS. REMOTE BACKGROUND TO THE EVENTS
TIMELINE FOR THE HISTORY OF EGYPT

DISTANT BACKGROUND TO THE EVENTS: 1882-1973

Britain, having taken control of Egypt in 1882, declares the country to be under military occupation in 1914, at the outbreak of World War I. At the close of the war in 1918, a lawyer, Saad Zaghloul leads a 'delegation' ('Wafd' in Arabic) to London to present the case for Egyptian independence. The denial of the Wafd's request results in periodic riots for Egyptian independence over the following years. Zaghloul reorganizes the Wafd into a political movement in 1919 to work for Egyptian independence. Britain edges toward granting nominal independence in 1922, reserving the right to safguard foreign interests and protect minorities. Britain formalizes the terms for independence in the constitution of 1923, the year in which the Wafd wins the legislative elections and Zaghloul becomes prime minister.

While the Wafd, led by Prime Minister Nahas Pasha in 1927, becomes the prime mover for independence, a conservative, nationalist wing developes with King Fuad's dismissal of Pasha and suspension of the constitution. Italy's invasion of Eritrea in 1935 further strengthens Britain's hold over Egypt as the English determine the country's requirements in military equipment, training and communications and the right to build British air bases. The Anglo-Egyptian treaty further defines Egyptian independence by dropping the provisions for protecting minorities and foreign interests while insisting on British occupation of the Canal Zone and her right to assume full military defecne of Egypt in time of war.

In 1938, King Faruq, the young successor to King Fuad, follows his father's policies in attacking the Wafd head-on, dismissing Pasha once again and appointing his own man, Ali Mahir. Tensions reach a height when Italy enters the war in 1940, and King Faruq, bending to pro-Italian friends and advisers, holds on to his anti-British prime minister, Ali Mahir. The British surround the palace with tanks and demand that Faruq appoint Nahas Pasha on pain of dethronement. The king complies but his prestige among the Egyptian people plummets and he tried to restore his standing by dismissing Pasha and reappointing Mahir in 1944.

The breaking point for the Egyptian monarchy is the 1948 Palestine war for the state of Israel in which Egyptian troops perform so badly against the fledgling Jewish state that Egyptianh troops begin planning a coup. Faruq tries to placate the Wafd in 1950 by calling an election while the Wafd demands the evacuation of British troops. The British, however, refuse. In 1951, the Wafd abrogates the Anglo-Egyptian Treaty, declares the king sovereign of Egypt and Sudan and mounts guerilla attacks on the British. Rioting follows, the king dismisses the Wafd government in 1951 and the Free Officers group, led by Col Abdul Nasser and Muhammed Neguib mount a coup, overthrowing the monarchy and exiling the king to Italy. Neguib, at the head of the Revolutionary Ruling Council, is appointed President and Prime Minister and chooses a parliamentary system of government. Nasser, now head of the still-powerful RCC, opposes and overrules him.

Quickly going his own way, Nasser bans the Wafd and all other parties in 1953. Instead he brings out a single party, the Liberation Rally. He launches programs of industrialization and land reform and promotes Arab Socialism which gets him the backing of the Soviet Union. Without consulting Naguib, Nasser bans the Mislim Brotherhood in 1954. Naguib resigns in protest and after being dismissed from the presidency, turns to his own military forces, and the country nearly collapses into civil war before Nasser before Naguib is allowed to retain the presidency in a compromise and Nasser is appointed chairman of the RCC. Felling the directions things have taken, the British withdraw from Egypt.

Now an international figure, Nasser promotes Arab Nationalism. Facing opposition at home and abroad, he moves further to the left. At the 1955 Bandung Conference, he manages to the stop the Baghdad Pact from pulling more Arab coountries over to the West and draws inspiration from from the Non-aligned Movemenrt of India's Nehru and Yugoslavia's Tito. America's susequent refusal to sell arms to Egypt only pushes Nassar to buy weapons from Yugoslavia. In retaliation the US refuses aid for the Aswan Dam and persuades the World Bank to do the same. In turn, Nasser natonalizes the Suez Canal and accepts aid from the Soviet Union.

Thus begins, in 1956, Narer's period of Triumph with the Suez Crisis. A new constution gives him a six year turn and the the right to one consecutive term and pursues his non ideological Arab nationalism. Britain, France and Israel try, by military force, to seize the Suez Canal. Their failure to do so makes Nasser into a hero throughout the Arab World. Now begins his move further to the left.

Nasser's prestige is abruptly shaken in 1958 by his project to unite Syria and Egypt in a United Arab Republic intended gradually to absorb the whole Middle East under Nasser himself but it fails due to in-fighting and the secession of Syria in 1961. Meanwhile, Nasser visits Moscow as leader of the Non-Aligned Movement. Syria's attempt to outpace Egypt in the implementation of socialist policies causes Nasser to move even farther to the left in an attempt to remain effective leader of the Arab world. He extends his credentials by sending military support to a republican revolution in North Yemen and founding the Arab Socialist Union. He also makes a defence pact with Syria in order to share if not to claim Syria's support of the Palestinian movement against Israel. In 1967 Israel ridicules Nasser and dares him to support Palestinian designs. Nasser responds by closing the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping and forming an alliance with Jordan.

Thus begins the Six Day War in which Israel launches pre-emptive strikes against the air forces of Egypt, Jordan and Syria, decisve defeating them. Nasser's prestige irreversibly damaged, he resigns but is recalled by popular demand. In 1968, his political 'War of Attrition' prevents Israel from making any permanent gains of Egyptrian territory and he brokers peace between the PLO and Lebanon and the PLO and Jordan. Upon his death in 1970, Anwar Sadat succeeds him as president of Egypt.

RECENT BACKGROUND TO THE EVENTS 1973-2011.

In 1973, Sadat conspires with Syria in an attack on Israel and though Egypt scores initial success in the sky, it loses the Ypm Kippur War. In consequence, Sadat deserts the Soviet Union for the United States and signs a compromise treaty with Israel. He signs the Law of Political Pareties in 1977, legalizign the Wafd and other poltiical parties to participate in a parliamentary system with rigged elections and little democracy. In 1979, Sadat signs a peace treaty with Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin. As a result Egypt is expelled from the Arab League and virulent protest at the treaty causes him to crack down on ther opposition. Long simmering hatred among Islamists over the peace with Israel explodes when Sadat is assassinated in 1981 by militant army officers during a review. He is succeeded by Hosni Mubarak.

Mubarak immediately begins to mend relations with the Arab world, earning him considerable popularity at home and readmission to the Arab League in Egypt. However, he continues Sadat's tradition of rigging elections. After his re-election in 1993, Mubrarak faces increased oppostion from the Muslim Brotherhood and Gamat al Islamiya. His increased crackdowns, arrests, torture and general repression of Islamists begins to cause concern in the Clinton administration, not least because repressive Arab governments are only radicalizing the Islamists.

After Al Qaeda's 9/11 attacks on New York, Mubarak cooperates with US president Bush's War on Terror. He recommends an international convention on terrorism but at the same time asks for a more even-handed approach to Palestine and Israel. In the end, he obtains neither. In February, 2003, in Milan, CIA agents kidnap Egyptian cleric and Islamist suspect Hassan Nasr and use the rendition program tlo fly him to Egypt where he is torutred and interrogated. But when Bush visits Cairo in June for a meeting of Arab leaders, they insist again that no peace intiative will be possible until Israel eases up on the West Bank.

After Mubarak's entire cabinet resigns in July, 2004, he replaces his prime minister with Atef Obeid, an outsider, and replaces half of Egypts 26 governors, further centralizing his power- despite increasing demands for reform. The timing seems strange when, after an October Al Qaeda bombings kills 34 at the Jewish resort of Sikkot on Egypt's Sinai peninsula, Mubarak has 200 Islamists released from prison at the end of Ramadan and in the same month the funeral of the Palestinain leader is held in Cairo. But that is the political tightrope Mubarak must walk between the West and militant Islam. In February, 2005, as Mubarak asserts regional power by joining Libya's Gaddhafi in attempting to broker a peace between Darfur and Sudan, five hundred protest his intention to run for another term in office and have his son Gamal named as his successor.

Muvarak's initiative to reform electoral laws to include multiple candidates in the early spring of 2005, excite little trust as oppostion groups and the Muslim Brotherhood mount anti-government demonstrations for genuine political reform well into the spring. My May, despite ratification by parliament and an allleged referndum., thousands of protestors have rejected Mubarak's electoral reform as a sham. On June 30, the Muslim Brotherhood mounts forms an opposition alliance for the legal and constitutional removal of Mubarak and the boycott of September elections. July 23, witnesses terror attacks at the Red Sea resort of Sharm al-Sheikh

Mubarak's election to a fifth consecutive term in September 2005 is marred by blatant electoral fraud and minimal voter turnout. Meanwhile, thousands of Gazans pour into Egypt during a temproary opening of the border. December's parliamentary elections are marked by clashes between police and the Muslim Brotherhood. Mubarak's National Democratic Party wins its predictable majority while Brotherhood candidates, running as independents score a record 20% of seats.

In March, 2006, Egyptian judges protest the judiciary's lack of independence while in May, judges demonstrating against electoral fraud are beaten by police. In April, meanwhile, Egypt has been rocked by rioting between Muslims and Christains in Alexandria. In May, the US gets a clear message that reform will come no time soon as Mubarak's son Gamal, his designated successor, is introduced at the White House and US and Egyptian officials meet as Egyopt hosts the World Economic Forum.

In June 2006, the Muslim Brotherhood is subjected to a crackdown and arrests and in November Mubaralk once again promises political reform in an address to parliament. The crackdown on the Brotherhood continues in November. Instead of the promised reform, constituional amendments strengthen Mubarak's grip on power as 100 MPs walk out in protest in March, 2007. A referendum consenting to the amendments is widely known to be rigged. In June, police bar voters from polling stations as the government claims another victory in parliamentary elections. In October there follows a crackdown on the press.

Mubarak places his son Gamal in a high government post, a moce seen to assure his succession to the presidency.

In the spring of 2008, Egyptians protest high food prices with protests, looting and the burning of shops, while sentencing and mass arrests of the Muslim Brotherbood coontinue. In a desperate move, perhaps, to quell popular unrest, Mubarak announces finanacial reforms, action against poverty and the distribution of shares in privatized state enterprises in November. In February 2009 an Islamist bomb attack kills 25 in a tourist area of Cairo. The spring sees Mubarak hosting Sudan's Al Bashir despite international censure of Bashir over atrocities in Darfur.

TIMELINE FOR THE HISTORY OF EGYPT FROM THE BRITISH TO MUBARAK.

304- BC- Greek Ptolemies a major sea power in eastern Mediterranean, controlling Medierranean coast and many Aegean islands.

200 BC- Ptolemies defeated at battle of Panion- but Egypt flourishes culturally under their rule. Temples of Edfu and Endera built.

30 BC- Egypt falls to Rome under Octavian.

672 AD- Egypt taken by the Muslim Arabs.

909-1171- Shia Fatimid Dynasty of North Africa rivals Sunni Abbasids.
1250-1517- Mameluke Sultante of Egypt and Near East.
1517- Ottoman Sultanate takes Egypt from Mamelukes.
1798-1801- Egypt occupied by Napoleon Bonaparte for France.

1869- construction of the Suez Canal.

1879- Egyptians revolt against the Khedive.

British Occupation of Egypt opposed by Wafd.

1882- Britain intervenes in the Egyptian revolt, occupies Egypt.
1914- Britain declares Egypt to be under occupation.
1918- Nov 11- Saad Zaghloul leads a delegation ('Wafd') to the British High Commission in Cairo asking that the delegation be allowed to go to London to argue the case for independence. The British refusal results in riots with periodic talks over the following years.

Formation of Nationalist Wafd Party and Wafd Government.

1919- 'Wafd' organization formed by lawyer Saad Zaghloul with hopes of ending the British occupation.
1922- Britian recognizes nominal Egyptian independence under King Fuad but continues to occupy the country, insist on the safeguarding of foreign interests and the protection of minorities.
1923- Britains conditions for nominal independence set down in a constitution.
-Wafd wins election and Zghloul becomes prime minister.

-the anti-imperialist movememnt known as the Wafd ('delegation') continues to agitate for the ejection of Britain in Egypt.

Wafd Party and Royalists Opposed.

1927- nationalists split between the Wafd led by Premier Mustafa Nahas Pasha and King Fuad.
1931- King Fuad fires Premier Pasha and suspends the constitution.
1935- start of war between Italy and Eritrea makes Britain the prkimary foreign powere in Egypt with the power to define the imperial relationship, training and equiping the Egyptian army, demanding improvements in communications, building British ari bases.
1936- April- Wafd is re-elected with large majority. A Regency Council reigns on behalf of young King Faruq (1920-1965).

Anglo-Egyptian Treaty.

1936- August- the Anglo-Egyptian treaty reiterates Egypt's independence, drops the provision for protecting foreign interests and minorities but insists Egypt maintain its armed forces and reserves priviledges for Britian such as a military presence in the Suez Canal zone until Egypt is considered capable of guarding the canal. Britain would assume all defence responsibilities in time of war.
-treaty is opposed by Egyptian nationalists.
1938- King Faruq excercises full power at age 18. King pursues policy of attacking the opposition and is soon at loggerheads with the Wafd. Faruq dismisses Pasha, appoints Ali Mahir as premier.

-death of Fuad, former king of Egypt.

King's Support For Italy in WW II Undermines Royalist Cause.

1940- Italy enters the war against the allies; King Faruq tries to remain neutral but due to Italian advisers and friends becomes pro-Italy. British demand that Faruq dismiss his new, anti-British premier, Ali Mahir and replace him with the more pro-British Nahas Pasha. Faruq refuses.
1942- Feb- as Germans advance on Egypt, King Faruq is about to appoint an anti-British premier but the British ambassador, has the palace surrounded by tanks, forcing the king to appoint Nahas Pasha on pain of dethronement. King Faruq complies.
-due to his acquiescance to the British Faruq's prestige drops sharply in Egypt.
1944- Faruq tries to restore his prestige by dismissing Nahas Pasha

1948-49- the Egyptian military's poor performance in the Palestine war of Israeli independence (due to corruption and incompetecne of the officers and poor supply) further lowers the Faruq's status, causing Egyptian officers to plan a coup. Abdul Nasser serves as a major.
-King Faruq agrees to reconciliation with Wafd by offering to call an election- provided both sides ignore the other's incompetence and corruption.

Suez Crisis; Wafd Makes a Push for Full Independence.

1950- Jan- King Faruq orders general election which puts the Wafd back in power. To get popular backing and recover prestige lost during the Palestine War, the Wafd demands that the British withdraw their troops. Britain refuses to respond
-Abdul Nasser promoted to colonel.
1951- Oct- the Wafd annuls the the 1936 Anglo-Egyptian Treaty, declares Faruq king of Egypt and Sudan and demands immediate withdrawal from the Suez Canal Zone. Guerillas and leftist Wafd members begin attacks on the British.

1952- after riots, King Faruq dismisses the Wafd government.

Nasser and Officers Overthrow King Faruq, ban Wafd.
1952 July -the charismatic Col. Abdul Nasser and Gen. Muhammed Neguib leading the Free Officers overthrow King Faruq and exile him to Italy. The new Revolutionary Command Council (RCC) is led by Neguib. Neguib, as president and premier, favours parliamentary system but Nasser, at head of the Free Officers, overrules him.

1953 Nasser bans the Wafd party and all other political groups in favour or the single 'Liberation Rally' and inaugurates a program of industrialization, land reform and regional Pan-Arabism. His Arab socialism gets him the backing of the Soviet Union.
1954- Feb- Nasser and RCC ban the Muslim Brotherhood without consulting Neguib.
-Neguib resigns in protest causing mobilization and near civil war between Nasser and Neguib
April- Neguib retains presidency in compromise
Nov- FCC dismisses Naguib as president, makes Nasser its shairman.
- full British withdrawal from Egypt.
-opposition to Nasser's Arab nationalism at home and abroad pushes him to the left.
1955- At Bandung Conference, Nasser is infleunced by nonalignment of Jawharlal Nehru of India and Tito of Yugoslavia. Nasser staops pro-western baghdad Pact from moving further.
-US refuses to sell arms to Egypt so Nasser turns to Czecholslovakia. US refuses aid for the Aswan dam project and get World Bank to do the same.
-Nasser nationalizes the Suez Canal and accepts aid from Soviet Union.

Nasser Leads the Arab World.
1956- with new constitution, Nasser becomes president for a 6 year term. Nasser begins with a nonideological but Arab Nationalist approach.
1956- Oct-Nov- Britain, France and Israel try and fail to seize back the canal in the Suez War, attempting to assassinate Nasser.
1957- March- Britain, France and Israel withdraw in defeat. from Suez.
-Nasser becomes a hero to the Arab world alll the while moving farther to the left,

Nasser Fails to Lead the Arab World.

1958- Egypt and Syria together form the United Arab Republic (UAR) with Nasser as president- hoping to unite the whole Middle East under his leadership.
-Nasser visits USSR as leader of the Non-aligned Movement.
1961- the UAR splits due to in-fighting. Syria secedes.
-As Syria moves to the left, Nasser moves further nationalizing industry and agriculture and extending land reform to retain leadership of the Non-aligned Movement.
1962- Nasser inagurates the Arab Socialist Union.
1962- after a coup against the king in North Yemen, Egypt helps the republican military to set up a regime there.
1964- Nasser hosts a summit of the Organization of North African Unity.

Nasser at the Height of his Prestige.
1966- Nasser forms a defence pact with Syria so that Syria will not have a monopoly on defence of the Palestinians which it has been arming and supporting.
-Isreal warns Syria to stop supporting Palestinian attack and ridicules Nasser. Nasser closes the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping and signs a defence pact with Jordan.

Nasser's Decline.

1967- through premptive attcks by Israel, Syria, Jordan and Egypt decisively defeated by Israel in the Six-Day War. Nasser loses prestige in his own country.
-Nasser resigns, is reinstated by popular demmand.
1968- Nasser initiates a political 'War of Attrition' against Israel to prevent Israel crom consolidating its gains on Egyptian territory.
1969-1970- Nasser acts as peacemaker between the PLO and Lebanon and the PLO and Jordan.

1970- death of Nasser. Anwar Sadat becomes president.

Sadat's Failed Attack on Israel Results in Peace Treaty with Israel.

1973- Sadat joins with Syria on a surprise attack on Israel, nearly knocking Israel out of the sky. However, he deserts the Soviet Union for the United States and works out a compromiose peace twith Israel.
1977- June- the Law of the System of Political Parties, a veteran of the old Wafd, Fuad Serag al Din forms the Neo-Wafd Party.

1979- Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Begin sign the Egyptian-Istaeli peace Treaty. But his new peace costs Egypt membership in the Arab League.

-due to the unpopularity of the treaty at home, Sadat becomes increasingly autocratic.

Sadat Assassinated by Islamist Officers. Succeeded by Mubarak.

1981- Sadat is assassinated by Islamist officers during a military review.

-Sadat is succeeded by Hosni Mubarak, whose conciliatory approach to the Arab world wins him backing at home and Egypt readmittance to the Arab League.
-while applying the free market to the economy, Mubarak rigged elections as Sadat had done before him.

Mubarak Begins Repression of Islamists.

1993- Mubarak wins his second election to the presidency. However he faces increasing opposition form the Muslim Brotherhood and Gamat al Islamiya. Over the following years his escalating repression of Islamist organizations, with no regard for human rights, causes the increasing concern of the Clinton administration in Washington.
1999- Mubarak is re-nomniated by the legislature for the presidency.

9/11: Mubarak Tries to Persuade US of Pro-Palestine, anti-Terror Strategy.

2001- Sept. 11- after the 9/11 attacks on the U.S., Mubarak takes a two-pronged approach, cooperating fully in President Bush's War on Terror but recommending an intgernational convention on terrorism as well as impartial attention to the plight of the Palestinians under Israeli occupation. On these last two, Mibarak received no cooperation.

Talks between Presidents Bush and Mubarak; Mubarak supports Palestinians.

2002 February - Hundreds of passengers are killed after their train catches fire south of Cairo.
Sinai bomb
March 2-6 Mubarak begins 4-day cisit to US. Pres. Mubarek asks Pres. Bush for greater US participation in seeking Middle East peace.
April 3- Egypt severs relations with Israel over JDF offsensive into West Bank.
June 8- US Prs. Bush meets Mubarabak who tells him no peace in the Middle East will be possible until Israel withdraws from Palestine.
Sept 9- a military court sentences 51 Islamists.
2003- Feb 17- 13 CIA agents kidnap Egyptian cleric Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr in Milan and take him to Egypt where he is interrogated, tortured and released.
June 3- In Cairo Bush meets Arab leaders who pledge to fight terror but insist that Israel must ease up on Palestine.
Dec. 10- Leaders of Egypt and Iran meet for the first time since 1979, agree on a nuclear deal.

Cabinet Resings as Mubarak Consolidates Power.
2004- July 9- Jul 9, Cabinet of President Hosni Mubarak's resigns. Ahmed Nazief (Nazif), an outsider, is appointed to replace Atef Obeid as prime minister. This further consolidates Mubarabk's power when there is more pressure than ever for political and economic change. Half of the 26 regional governors were also replaced.

2004 October - Al Qaeda named in 4 car bomb attacks target Israeli tourists Jewish resort at Sukkot on Sinai peninsula; 34 people are killed.
Nov 13- Egypt releases 200 Islamist militants to mark the end f Ramadan

2004 November - Funeral of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat is held in Cairo.
Dec 8- several thousand Christians protest alleged forced conversion of a Christian woman to Islam.
2005- Feb 1-5- Egyptian security forces clash with Islamists in Sinai while making arrests in Sokkot bombings.
Feb 19- Mubarak and Linya's Ghaddafi agree to an all-African plan for the Darfur crisis.
Feb 21- 500 protest against a further term for Mubarak and also his plans to be succeeded by his son Gamal.

Mubaraks ìnitiative for multi-candidate Elections rejected as Insincere.
Feb 26- Mubarak reforms elections laws and allows for multiple candidates.
March 9- Parliament agrees to electoral changes.
2005 February-April - Pro-reform and opposition activists including Muslim Brotherhood mount anti-government demonstrations.
May 4- thousands in Muslim Brotherhood protest in Cairo and across the Egypt demaind political reform.
2005 May - Referendum vote backs a constitutional amendment that will allow multiple candidates to stand in presidential elections.
May 25- thousands demonsrtrate amid arrests and beatings as protestors reject constitutional changes to allow multi party candidates as merely cosmetic.
June 30- Mulsim Brotherhood launches political alliance for peaceful democratic reform and the legal and constitutional removal of Mubarak.
July- opposition parties call in unision for boycott of presidential election in September.

Terror Atrtack at Sharm al Sheikh.

2005 23 July - Scores of people are killed in bomb attacks in the Red Sea resort of Sharm al-Sheikh.
July 28- Mubarak announces multi-candidate elections for Sept. 7.
July 30- protestors beaten for demonstrating against Marbarak's announcment that he would run in presidential elections for a fifth time.

Mubarak`s election to fifth term marked by low turnout, fraud and boycott.
2005 September - President Mubarak is re-elected for a fifth consecutive term. Mubarak's image as a democratic reformer is marred by electoral fraud and a widespread boycott of the vote. Turnout is 23%
Sept 16- thousands of Gazans break through Palestinian Authority guards at the entry point into Egypt. Ordinary Palestinains take over the crossing point during a temporary opening.
Nov. 7- the EU agrees to monitor border crossing.
2005 December - Parliamentary polls end with clashes between police and supporters of the opposition Muslim Brotherhood. The National Democratic Party and its allies retain their large parliamentary majority. Muslim Brotherhood supporters, elected as independents, win a record 20% of seats.
More than 20 Sudanese migrants die after police break up a protest camp outside the UN offices in Cairo.
Dec 31, In Egypt President Hosni Mubarak swears in new Cabinet retaining major figures from previous government, adding two pro-American business figures and Egypt's first minister to wear a headscarf.
Jan 4- two Egyptian border guards shot by Palestinians attempting a forces crossing.
2006 February - Up to 1,000 people die when a ferry carrying about 1,400 passengers from Saudi Arabia to Egypt sinks in the Red Sea.
Feb 14- parliament approves Mubarak's proposed 2-year postponement of municipal elections over objections of the U.S. and the Islamist opposition.
March- crackdown on Muslim Brotherhood begins.

Repression of Judges.
Mar. 17- 1,000 judges mount silent protest against government's refusal of judicial independence.
April 13-16- 3 days of rioting between Muslims and Christians in Alexandria.

2006 April - Bomb attacks in the Red Sea resort of Dahab kill more than 20 people.
May 11- demonstrators in Cairo supporting judges who raised the alarm on election fraud are brutally repressed by police.
May 12- Gamal Mubarak, generally assumed to be Mubarak's successor, meets White House Officials, including VP Dick Cheney.
May 20- Mubarak opens the World Economic Forum meeting in Egypt with strong words, apparently meant for the U.S.- that Egypt has no intention of any quick political reform.
June 19- March to June crackdown on Muslim Brotherhood reaches 700 detained.
2006 August - Egypt praises the way the guerrilla group Hezbollah held out in the war with Israel in Lebanon after earlier questioning its judgement.
2006 November - Egypt is one of at least six Arab countries developing domestic nuclear programmes to diversify energy sources, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reports.
-President Mubarak promises democratic and constitutional reform in an address to parliament. Opponents are sceptical.

Crackdown on Muslim Brotherhood.

2006 November - Upsurge in arrests of Muslim Brotherhood members.
March 18- 100 mainly Islamist MPs walk out of parliament in protest against constitutional amendments which strengthen the regime's grip on power.
2007 March - Referendum on constitutional amendments. The authorities say 76% of voters approve changes, opposition groups say the poll was rigged.Turnout was toughtly 10%.
2007 April - Amnesty International criticises Egypt's record on torture and illegal detention.
More than 30 members of the Muslim Brotherhood go on trial, the first time in seven years that members of the group have been tried under military jurisdiction.
May 12- Security forces arrest 59 Muslims for setting fire to Christian shops and homes in a dispute of the building of a Christian church in Bamha.
2007 June - Parliamentary elections. Governing National Democratic Party wins most votes as police bar voters from polling stations amid allegations of fraud.

2007 October - Independent, opposition newspapers protest against "government harassment" after seven journalists are imprisoned and an editor is put on trial.
-Dustur newspaper editor Ibrahim Eissa sentenced to six months in jail for reporting rumours about President Mubarak's health. Rights groups demand change to law on reporting "false information".

Mubarak Annoints his Son.
Nov 3- Mubarak's son Gamal promoted to a key committee in a move seen to set him on the path to succession.
Dec.- Israeli defence Minister Ehud Barak visits Egypt to protest lax security on arms smuggling to Hamas in gaza.
2008- Jan- tension between EU and Egypt over EU's criticism of Egypt's record on human rights.
2008- March- as protests mount against high food prices, Mubarak complains publicly that Egypts high birth rate is draining the sgtate's budget.
April 6- shops looted andf fires set as rioters protest high food prices and stangnant salaries.

2008 April - Military courts sentence 25 leading Muslim Brotherhood members to jail terms in crackdown targeting the organisation's funding. More than 800 arrested over a month. Brotherhood boycotted municipal elections after only 20 candidates allowed to stand.

Mubarak Attempts Strategic Economic Reforms.
Nov 1- Mubarak promises to press ahead with financial reforms and action against poverty.
2008 November - The governing NDP says it will privatise some state firms and distribute free shares to citizens. State will retain majority stakes in strategically important assets such as iron, steel, transport and tourism.
-Security forces redeploy in Sinai after clashes over smuggling into Gaza Strip with local Bedouin left several tribesmen dead.
2009 February - Leading opposition figure Ayman Nour freed after serving three years of five-year sentence on forgery charges that he said were politically motivated.
-Bomb attack in popular tourist area of Cairo kills a French student and injures 24 other people. Authorities arrest three suspects, say small Islamist cell thought to be responsible.

Egypt Remains close to Sudan`s Bashir despite Darfur.
March 25- Egypt welcomes Sudan's Al Bashir despite international censure of Bashir for his brutal policies in darfur.
April 4-6th- demonstrators from Islamist and pro-democracy groups in nation-wide protests arrested by police.
2009 April - Egyptian authorities say they arrested 49 people the previous year on suspicion of helping Hezbollah send money and aid to Hamas in Gaza.
2009 May - Egyptian police clash with Coptic Christian pig farmers trying to stop their animals being taken away for slaughter as a precaution against swine flu.
Interior Ministry says seven people with suspected links to al-Qaeda arrested in connection with Cairo bomb attack which killed a French student in February.

Obama`s Cairo Speech.
2009 June - US President Barack Obama makes key speech in Cairo calling for a new beginning between the United States and the Muslim world.
-75 people sentenced to death in June- a record for one month- compared to 86 for all of 2008.

2009 July - Egyptian officials say 25 militants suspected of having al-Qaeda links were arrested for plotting attacks on ships in the Suez Canal.
2009 August - Twenty-six members of an alleged cell of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah go on trial in Cairo on charges of plotting attacks in Egypt and helping to send weapons to Hamas in Gaza.
Oct 9- Egypt`s Grand Mufti of Sunni Islam bans veils from Egypt`s main Sunni relgious university- Al Azar.
2009 November - Row between Egypt and Algeria following violence at football matches.
2009 December - Foreign activists protest in Cairo against Egypt's refusal to let aid convoys into Gaza.
2010 January - Coptic Christians clash with police at a massive funeral after an apparently sectarian shooting outside a church in which 3 gunmen killed 6 Christian worshipers on Jan 6, the Coptic New Years Eve.
Jan. 16- Muslim Brotherhood`s new leader is appointed- Mohammed Badie, from a the Brotherhood`s conservative wing.

ElBaradei Returns to Egypt; forms Opposition Coalition.
2010 February - Former UN nuclear chief Mohammed ElBaradei returns to Egypt and, together with opposition figures and activists, forms a coalition for political change. ElBaradei says he might run in presidential election scheduled for 2011.
March 2- ElBaradei calls for constitutional changes.
2010 March - President Mubarak undergoes gall-bladder surgery in Germany, returning to Egypt three weeks later.
April 2-6- at a public gathering Elbaradei calls for change in defiance of an emergency decree banning gatherings opposed to the government; police then crack drown on Baradei supporters.
April 12- Elbaradei calls for boycott of upcoming elections.
May 11- Egypt calls for a 2-year extension of its emergency law.
June 13, 20, 25- Police brutally repress opposition demonstrations which killed a man, culminating a massive June 25th protest led by ElBaradei.
2010 June - Muslim Brotherhood fails to win any seats in elections to the Shura consultative upper house of parliament; alleges vote was rigged. Vote suffers from boycott and apathy as ruling party wins massive `majority`.

Crackdown ahead of November Elections
Oct 5, 12- journalists and the Muslim Brotherhood accuse the government lof cracking down ahead of parliamentary elections.
Oct 13- government tightens controls over television broadcasting.
2010 November - Coptic Christians clash with police in Giza over construction of church.
Parliamentary polls, followed by protests against alleged vote rigging. Muslim Brotherhood fails to win a single seat, though it held a fifth of the places in the last parliament.
2011 January - 21 killed in bomb at church in Alexandria where Christians had gathered to mark the New Year.

Huge Anti-Mubarak Demonstrations inspired by Tunisian Revolt.

Jan 24-30- massive demomstrations in Cairo and all over Egypt set off by the revolution in Tunisia. The police pull back and army intervention is minimal as millions call for Mubarak`s resignation. ElBaradei is put forward as interim leader of an entirely new and democratic government.
Feb. 2 Wafd and other opposition parties agree to deal with government to manage peaceful transtion to a new regime.
Feb 11- Mubarak Steps down. Vice President Suleiman announces a transition of power to the military, headed by General Tantawi. The military promises that it will hold power termporarily until free and fair elections can be held.

Tunisia's Interim President Mebazaa Given Wide Powers

2011-02-09T19:27:00.000-08:00

HISTORY IN THE NEWS:

DEDICATED TO THE ORIGINS OF CONTEMPORARY EVENTS AROUND THE WORLD.

TAG: After managed regime change, Tunisia's new interim president follows an old tradition in using autocratic powers to bring in reform while promising a new staus quo. But democracy is not yet in sight.

IN THE NEWS: TUNISIA'S PRESIDENT FOUAD MEBAZAA HAS BEEN GIVEN WIDE POWERS EXGTENDING TO RULE BY DECREE IN ORDER TO ANSWER CONTINUING DEMANDS BY PROTESTORS FOR ECONOMIC REFORMS. PRIME MINISTER MOHAMMED GHANOUCCHI, AN ALLY OF FORMER PRESIDENT BEN ALI WAS BRIEFLY PRESIDENT AFTER JANUARY'S REVOLUTION IN WHICH MR. ALI FLED THE COUNTRY. BUT CONSTITUTIONAL EXPERTS DESCIDED ON MR. MEBAZAA, RECENTLY LEADER OF THE LOWER HOUSE. MR. GHANOUCCHI HAS ASKED THE COUNTRY'S PATIENCE AS PRESIDENT MEBAZAA STRUGGLES TO IMPLEMENT REFORMS.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Since 1919, when the Tunisian French educated elite demanded a say in their own affairs, an educated class of Tunisiams has represented a danger to Tunisian autocracy- and may still, as Mebazza, a member of the older generation, assumes autocratic powers in order to bring in reforms. Back in 1957, Habib Bourguiba, having led the movement for independence, became pfresident. But in 1974, with opposition parties outlawed, he used his autocratic powers and status as president for life to modernize education and the economy and even to bring in rights for women. Two years later his continued refusal to legalize opposition parties helped to provoke the rise of Islamic radicalism.

Bourguiba's military chief, Ben Ali, helped to oust him on grounds of senility and assumed the presidency in 1987. Ben Ali's attempts at political liberalization and multi-party democracy were gradually sacrificed to the fight against Islamic fundamentalism and most democratic reform was cosmetic. Like his predecessor, Bourguiba, he promoted cultural independence from Tunisia's French legacy. But the ensuing years were increasingly taken up by the fight against Islamic militants on behalf of Tunisia's western allies and amassing private wealth for his family and corrupt associates. Upon re-election to a fifith term in 2009, Ben Ali threatened consequences if the vote were questioned. Journalists and critics began to suffer for covering any opposition or protest. In Tunisia, reforms and crackdowns alike have been carried out by dictat and now the country has another president -Mebazza- assuming autocratic powers to bring in reforms. He is an interim president and the country is in a state of emergency, But Tunisia is not yet a democracy.

IN HISTORY: Tunisia was taken by the Ottoman Turks in 1574. Occupied by the French as a protectorate in 1881, Tunisia provided France with a base at the centre of the Mediterranean. By 1934, however, Habib Bourgiba was leading political resistance to French colonial rule only to be imprisoned. After Tunisia was liberated from German occupation by the allies, continued anti-colonial unrest resulted in France granting autonomy to Tunisia in 1954. The French released Bourgiba from prison and, considering him a relative moderate, allowed him to run for president. In 1956, Tunisia became independent and elected Bourgiba as its first elected head of state. But the liberal politician turned out to be a strongman and jailed his political opponents. By 1960, he had altered the constiution to give himself absolute power. He joined the international trend toward socialism in 1961 and his policies led to high standards of education. In the same year, having hearned a lesson from the bloody war for Algerian independence, France provided Tunisia with foegin aid and evacuated its military bases. The 1960s saw a leap forward in toursim, industry with limited nationalization of land. In 1974 Bourgiba went a step further and declared himself president for life. Nevertheless, reforms continued in education and rights for women. His refusal to allow political parties provoked unrest along with the formation of an underground Islamist movement. A nationawide strike by a major union was put down with violence in 1978 and a failed insurrection was launched from the Libyan border in 1980. The siituation began to deteriorate iin the earluy 80s with the bloody repression of bread riots caused by the withsdrawal of IMF subsies. It was, however, the high level of education among Tunisia's young, produced by Bourgiba's own policies, that made Tunisia a tinderbox. A second problem emerged in the early eighties with riots by Islamic fundamentalists.

RELEVANT DATES:

1574- Ottomans conquer Tunisia.

-Ottomans divide Libya into the regencies of Tripolitania, Tunisia and Algeria.

1883- Tunisia, due to its strategic location at the center of the Mediterranean, becomes a French protectorate.
1919 -the French-educated Tunisian elite demand more political participation in their own affairs.

Resistance in Tunisia.

1934- the Tunisian socialist Neo-Destour party led by Habib Bourguiba becomes the focus of opposition to French colonial rule, demanding an incremental process of liberation.

1954- after growing unrest, France grants autonomy to Tunisia.

Tunisian Independence.

1956- Tunisia becomes independent from France. The monarchy is abolished. Habib Bourguiba becomes Prime Minister.

1957- Tunisia becomes a republic as Habib Bourguiba is elected president.

1974- with all opposition having been outlawed, Tunsian President Habib Bourguiba declared president for life. However, state control over education and the economy brings stability and increased rights for women.
1976- Tunisian government’s refusal to legalize opposition parties causes political unrest and provokes the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in the 1970s and 1980s.

Zine Ben Ali
1987- due to political unrest, Tunisian president Bourguiba, on grounds of senility, is deposed by his prime minister, Ben Ali. Ben Ali attempts to bring in multi-party politics. But political liberalization is slowed down by resistance from Islamic fundamentalists.

1988- reforms made in the Tunisian constitution to allow opposition parties some minimal representation in the legislature.

Ben Ali Re-elected. Government tough on Islamic Fundamentalism.
1994- Tunisian president Ben Ali is re-elected; further constitutional reforms are brought in. However the threat from Islamic fundamentalists is handled by imprisoning them. Ben Ali promotes Tunisian cultural nationalism against continued French influence.
2008 Aug 23, A Tunisian court convicts 13 Islamic militants for planning to carry out attacks in Tunisia. 6 more ae convicted on Aug 26 for setting up a guerilla training base in Tunisia's Kef region for sending fighters to Iraq.

2009- July- Tunisia- nine men, including two airforce officers, charged with plotting to kill US troops during joint mmilitary exercise.

Ben Ali Rejects Questions about Election to Fifth Term.

Oct- Tunisia- President Ben Ali elected to a fifth term in office. Warns of legal consequences if the vote is questioned.

Nov- Tunisia- a journalist is jailed for assualt. Taoufik Ben Brik had written critically of the president. Human rights groups say the charge is politically motivated.
2010- July- Tunisia- Fahem Boukadous's appeal upholds his jail sentence for coverage of violent protests.

Dec- Tunisia- protests against lack of political freedom and against unemployment become nation wide.

Jan- 2011- Tunisia- demonstrators say police killed at least 50 protesters as demonstrations continue. Government llays the blame on Islamist and left-wing "extremists," reducing the number to 21 killed. Authorities close educational institutions and bring out troop in Tunis to contain demonstrations while promising economic and social reforms. President Ben Ali fires interior minister Rafik Belhaj Kacem, has most of the protestors released and sets up a special committee to investigate corruption.
-Ben Ali flees country ahead of massive protrests.
-Pime Minister Mohammed Ghanoucchi annunces a national unity government, not fully satisfying protestors.
-Ghanouchhi briefly occupies the presidency before a constitutional deciomn kis made for lower house leader Fouad Mebazza to become interim president.

TIMELINE FOR THE MAGHREB.
Thanks to BBC for items after 2000.

Phoenicians

1150 BC- north Coast of Morocco is inhabited by Phoenicians.

-Phoenicians rule Libya,

975-715 BC- the Libyans invade and conquer Egypt.

Greeks, Carthaginians

375 BC -Greeks rule coastal Libya

560 BC- Carthage in present-day Tunisia.

192 BC- Libya and Algeria ruled by the Kingdom of Numidia. Carthage reduced to Tunisia.
Morocco ruled by the Kingdom of Mauretania.

Rome

145 BC- Rome rules Carthage in present day Tunisia.

74 BC- Rome rules most of Numidia (Libya)

44 BC-14 AD- resistance against Rome in Mauretania.

67- Rome controls the entire coastal Maghreb from Egypt to the Atlantic.

-Rome rules Algeria as a province of the empire- Berbers pushed back into interior.

Vandals and Byzantines.

400-Vandals rule coastal Maghreb from Libya up to Roman Morocco.

-Vandals rule Algeria

500- Kingdom of the Vandals in Libya, Algeria.

525-565- Justinian takes coastal Libya, Algeria and Tunia for the Byzantine Empire.

-Byzantines rule Libya.

Arabs- The Muslim Invasions.

-647-698- Arabs conquer Libyan Tripolitania, Cyrencia and Dezzan for Islam.

-700s- Muslim conquest of Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco.

-740- revolts in the Maghreb against Umayyad taxation.

Morocco.

-788-964- Idris launches a failed Shia rebellion in Arabia, flees to Morocco. Arab Shia Idrisids founded by Idris I (a descendant of Ali) rule Morocco.

-Idris II of Morocco founds Fez.

-808- Fez, Morocco, an important political and cultural center.

Tunis

-800-909- the Aghlabids in Tunisia gain idependence from the Abbasids. The Aghlabid Emirate in Tripolitania (Libya)

-the Rustamid Imamate in coastal Algeria.

-909- after a coup d’etat, the Shia Fatamids (who claimed descent from Mohammed daughter, Fatima) establish a dynasty in Tunisia.

-the Fatamids go on to conquer all of North Africa.

-1046-1147- The Almoravids

The Almohads of Morocco.

1130-1269- the Almohads of Morocco launch invasions in Spain to stop the Christian resurgence.

-Almohads spread Islam into sub-Saharan Africa.

Europe and the Ottoman Empire.

1434- Western Sahara discovered by Portugal.

1551- Ottomans conquer Libyan provinces of Tripolitania, Cyrencia .

1566- Algiers on Barbary Coast and Tunis controlled by the Habsburgs.

1574- Ottomans conquer Tunisia.

-Ottomans divide Libya into the regencies of Tripolitania, Tunisia and Algeria.

Tripolitania, piracy and war with Europe.

-pirates based in Tripoli prey on Christian shipping.

1620- (circa) Janissary military caste of slave soldiers sends out their own appointed Dey who often had more power than the provincial governors appointed by the Sultan.

1650- the entire Mediterranean and its coasts are controlled by the Ottomans, save for Morocco, Spain, France and Italy.

1711- the Janissary Ahmad Karamanli becomes Dey, kills the Ottoman governor of Tripolitania and and persuades the Ottomans to name him governor. The post of governor remains in the Karamanli family until 1835.

-the Karamanli Deys of Tripolitania extract heavy tribute from the Tripoli pirates and extend Ottoman rule into the interior.

1801-1805- war between the US and Tripoli about the amount of tribute US shipping should pay to the Dey for protection from pirates.

1815-1835 England, France, and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies successfully extirpate piracy, vastly reducing the tribute paid to the Dey of Tripolitania.

French Colonization.

1830- France sends colonists into Algeria.

1835- hereditary dynasty of the Karamanli Deys of Tripoli ends due to European extirpation of piracy which diminished tribute to the Karamanlis. Direct Ottoman rule is re-established.

1842- Ottomans conquer Libyan province of Fazzan.

-Tripolitania and Cyrencia are stable but politically and economically autonomous from Constantinople.

-the Sanusi brotherhood gains recruits from Cyrenaica, Tripolitania and Fazzan.

French rule of Northwest Africa.

1848- Algeria is annexed to France and given a French administrative structure, with departments- in Oran, Constantine and Algiers.

1870- most of Algeria is under French military control.

1881- Morocco becomes a French protectorate.

1881- Algeria formally becomes part of France.

1883- Tunisia, due to its strategic location at the center of the Mediterranean, becomes a French protectorate.

1884- the Western Sahara claimed as a protectorate by Spain.

Entente Cordiale

1904- Entente Cordiale- Morocco falls under French influence.

1902- France fully controls Algeria.

Italian Invasion of Tripoli

1911- Italy declares war on Turkey and occupies Tripoli. End of Ottoman rule.

1912- treaty of Ouchy- Italy gives autonomy to Tripoli and northern Libya. However fighting continues.

European Competition for Morocco.

-France intervenes in Morocco to put down a rebellion. Germany competes with France for influence in Morocco.

1912- most of Morocco is a French protectorate. The Treaty of Fez establishes French Morocco with a capital at Rabat and Spanish Morocco in the northern Rif area with a capital at Tetouan.

1914- Italy occupies most of Libya but becomes locked in a long war against the Sanusi and their allies.

1919- Algerians are without civil rights, save for a small elite given rights in return for renouncing their Islamic faith and customs. The French take the best land for agriculture, with Algerian peasants working the land for low wages.

-the French-educated Tunisian elite demand more political participation in their own affairs.

Resistance in Morocco.

1920-34 –rebel Abd al Krim leads resistance against Spanish, then French Morocco.

1923- International Zone created in Tangiers, Morocco.

Italy Creates Libya.

1934- Italy combines Tripolitania and Cyrenaica, naming the region Libya. Fazzan is part of Tripolitania.

-Italian governor of Libya, Italo Balbo builds schools, hospitals and government buildings in Libya.

Resistance in Tunisia.

1934- the Tunisian socialist Neo-Destour party led by Habib Bourguiba becomes the focus of opposition to French colonial rule, demanding an incremental process of liberation.

1930s- -the nationalist Istiqlas movement rises in Moroccan cities. But French administrator Marshal Lyautey keeps the rebel movement in check.

-Italy sends 40,000 colonists to the plateau region of Libya.

World War II- German-Allied struggle for Libya.

1939- Libya becomes an Italian province.

1940-45- British and French fight Germans for control of Libya. Alergia is ruled by the Vichy government.

1940- Moroccan rebels encouraged by France’s defeat by Nazi Germany

-1942- birth of Muammar Ghaddafi to a tribe in the central Sirtic Desert.

1943- Libya placed under British-French military rule.

June 3- DeGaulle sets up the Committee of National Liberation on Algiers

1943 -French and Anglo-American forces liberate Tunisia from German occupation.

Colonialism Reasserts Itself.

-French colonists in Tunisia insist on reasserting control.

1944- in Morocco the Istiqlas movement is made official.

1947- Italy concedes all claims to Libya. Algerian nationalists are promised full political rights. But France’s fourth republic is too weak to force conservative Algerian colonists to live up to the commitment. Moreover, the military commanders also side with the colonists.

1951- Libya becomes an independent kingdom with a constitution. The Emir of Cyrencia, Muhammad Idris al Sanusi (the Sunusi brotherhood) is proclaimed King Idris I. Poor in natural resources, Libya is dependent on the US and Britian for economic aid.

Renewed Anti-Colonial Resistance

1953- the Moroccan Sultan Ibn Yusuf is deported by France to Madagascar because of his alleged support of the Isliqlas nationalism movement.

1953-54- Libya allows the US and Britain to establish bases provided they pay an annual subsidy.

The Franco-Algerian War.

1954-62- in response to brutal repression, the guerilla forces of the Algerian FLN wage war against French occupation. The country is destroyed; the colonists take most of their wealth with them to France.

-Boumerdas and Tizi Ouzou, in the Berber region of Kabylia in eastern Algeria is a center of resistance.

-under Ben Bella- the farms of emigrated Algerian colonists are nationalized and ruled through peasant autonomy.

Tunisian Autonomy.

1954- after growing unrest, France grants autonomy to Tunisia.

1955- Istiqlas nationalists start a guerrilla war in Morocco.

Moroccan Independence.

1956- Feb 18- France grants Morocco independence. Sultan Ibn Yusuf returns and is made King Muhammad V. Muhammad gets broad popular backing in wielding absolute power to develop industry and exploit mineral resources.

-after imprisoning Tunsian Habib Bourguiba, the French government under Mendes France decides he is a moderate compared to other Arab leaders and allows him to run for president.

Tunisian Independence.

1956- Tunisia becomes independent from France. The monarchy is abolished. Habib Bourguiba becomes Prime Minister.

1956- Morocco becomes independent from French and Spanish protectorates.

1957- Morocco occupies the Western Sahara.

1957- Tunisia becomes a republic as Habib Bourguiba is elected president.

1959- oil discovered in Libya.

1961- Hassan II succeeds to the throne of Morocco. He is also prime minister.

Algerian Independence.

1962- Algeria gains independence from France. Ahmed Ben Bella is the first president of the republic.

-in Libya, rapid modernization, centralization of the formerly decentralized state and the vote for women alienates many Muslims.

1962- Bouguiba succeeds in getting the French to withdraw their military bases from Tunisia.

1963- after conflict between its three regions, Libya changed from a federal state to a unitary state.

1964-66- Anglo-Libyan treaty ends and British troops are withdrawn from Libya.

Algeria's Boumedienne

1965- the Algerian government of Ben Bella is overthrown in a coup d’etat by Houari Boumedienne who maintains a dictatorship until 1974.

-under Boumedienne, Algerian peasant self-government is abandoned because of low productivity. Boumedienne shifts his socialist economic policy to nationalization and industrialization. Islamic and Arabic religious and cultural identity is promoted. Nevertheless Algeria remains economically dependent on France, where many Algerians are working.

Moroccan Dictatorship

1965- after riots in Casablanca, Hassan II of Morocco, declares a royal dictatorship.

Libya and Ghaddafi.

-1969- at least four coups plotted against Libya's King Idriss.

1969- Sept 1, 1969- Colonel Ghaddafi and the Free Unionist Officers take power in a bloodless coup and rules with the Revolutionary Command Council. The 1951 constitution is ended. Gaddafi appeals sucessfully to anti-Communist, anti-capitalist, pro-Islam Arab nationalism. He embraces international, Islamist causes and supports terror operations in Lebanon, Egypt and Chad.

-Ghaddafi concentrates power in the Revolitionary Command Council (RCC) composed of the 12 Free Unionist Officers closest to Ghaddafi- all are under 30. Alcohol is banned, night clubs closed and alll Roman script in public places replaced with Arabic. All Jews and the remaining 30,000 Italians are expelled from the country.

-after oil companies refuse to give Libya a controlling 51% share but fail to bribe Libyan negotiators or agree on a united front, Ghaddafi nationalizes foreign-owned industries; provides free health care, minimum wage, the right to work and an education system. Grass roots local committees provide an illusion of populist democracy. He is socialist but anti-communist.

-Ghadaffi is oriented toward the Middle East rather than North Africa and forms close ties with Egypt and Syria.

1969-1970- Ghaddafi resists military coups launched against him.

-British and US bases are closed and Britain and the US withdraw all personnel and material.
-Libya and Algeria join forces to confront the big oil companies.

1970-72- Ghaddafi is prime minister of Libya.

Hassan II's Authoritarianism in Morocco.

1970- Hassan II of Morocco reforms the constitution but still hangs on to his supreme religious and political authority.

1971-1972- continued poverty and royal absolutism lead to unsuccessful attempted coups against Morocco’s Hassan II.

1970s- foreign military stations closed down in Libya. Ghaddafi promotes Islam andArab unity.

-Ghadaffi supports dictator Idi Amin of Uganda as a fellow Muslim.

1973- terrorist attacks against Moroccan government.

Ghaddafi's Arab Nationalism.

1973- 15 August- Ghadaffi, disgusted with corruption and luxury arising from Libyan oil wealth, launches the Libyan Zwara “cultural revolution” to entrench socialist and Muslim values. Islamic law is imposed. Ba'ath, Communist and all foreign parties are banned. Populace is armed to protect the Revolution. A purge is carried out of the old ruling elite while the bureaucracy is "returned to the people."

Oct- Libya contributes troops and supplies to the Arab cause in the Yom Kippur war against Israel.

1974- with all opposition having been outlawed, Tunsian President Habib Bourguiba declared president for life. However, state control over education and the economy brings stability and increased rights for women.

- May 7- Libya's Gadaffi calls for the creation of Popular Committes to foment the revolution in every community.

-May 14- Gadaffi announces his Third Universal Theory- a traditional Islamic, Libyan Bedouin middle way between Capitalism and Communism advocating communal values for a government modelled on the age-old autonomous Bedouin council. He is the first and only leader in the Maghreb to appeal to indigenous traditions.

1974- Algerian President Boumedienne holds elections. He is declared president by a new constitution.

1975- the former Spanish Sahara comes under joint control of Morocco, Mauritania and Spain. The southern area, Tiris al Gharbia, is shared by Mauritania and Morocco.

-the Algerian economy is increasingly dependent on oil.

-Ghadaffi survives another attempted coup.

1976- January- 187 Popular Committees established in Libya. Each sends three members to attend the First General Congress of the Socialist ppular Libyan Arab Jamahiriya ("rule by the masses"). Property sharing is promoted, multiple ownership of property is ooutlawed. Profit-sharing replaces wages.Major dealerships, retail and grocery operations are all nationalized. The only weakness is the RCC's control of alll vital institutions from oil to security and the military- contrary to popular soverignty. The RCC meanwhile has shrunk to Ghaddafi, Colonel Jalloud, Colonel Mustafa Kharroubi, Colonel Khweldi Homei, and military chief, Colonel Abu Bakr Younis.

Polisario Conflict with Morocco over Western Sahara.

1976- the Spanish Sahara is re-named the Western Sahara. The Algeria-based Polisario Front sets up a government in exile. The Polisario calls the disputed region The Saharan Arab Democratic Republic.

-Tunisian government’s refusal to legalize opposition parties causes political unrest and provokes the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in the 1970s and 1980s.

1976-80- Hassan II deploys a large army to block Polisaro forces from infiltrating Morocco’s western border. Despite military backing from the U.S., he is unable to contol the Western Sahara.

1979- The Polisario, an Algerian-backed liberation front in the Western Sahara forces Mauretania to withdraw. Morocco becomes responsible for the Spanish Sahara despite an independence movement there which is not recognized by Morocco.

1979- Algerian President Chadi Benjedid succeeds Boumedienne.

1980- Ghaddafi launches a campaign of assassination against Libyan dissidents in Europe.

1981- a drop in the price of oil increases the burden of Algeria’s foreign debt. Boumedienne’s successor Chadli is forced to adopt market-oriented economic reforms and austerity measures.

1982- in response to Libyan support for international terrorism, the US bans Libyan oil imports.

Fundamentalism Emerges in Tunisia.

1983-84- Islamic Fundamentalists riot against Tunisian president Bourguiba. His influence is reduced.

1984- urban unrest prompts Hassan II of Morocco to appoint a coalition government of national unity under a civilian prime minister.

-the war in the Western Sahara puts increasing strain on the Moroccan economy throughout the 1980s.

1984- UK accuses Libya of the murder of a police officer in London and severs relations.

-Ghaddafi invades northern Chad for its alleged uranium reserves. But his offensive fails.

1986- Libyan terrorists accused in the bombing of a US forces night club in Germany. President Reagan orders the bombing of Benghazi and Tripoli in an attempt to kill Gaddafi.

Fundamentalism in Tunisia.

1987- due to political unrest, Tunisian president Bourguiba, on grounds of senility, is deposed by his prime minister, Ben Ali. Ben Ali attempts to bring in multi-party politics. But political liberalization is slowed down by resistance from Islamic fundamentalists.

1988- reforms made in the Tunisian constitution to allow opposition parties some minimal representation in the legislature.

1988- The UN decides that the Sahrawi people of Western Sahara should hold a referendum on independence under the Polisario or rule by Morocco.

1988- a Pan Am jet, later found to be rigged with explosives by Libyan agents, explodes and comes down over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing all aboard.

Fundamentalism in Algeria.

-in Algeria the official policy of economic and cultural nationalism fails as Chadli’s austerity measures provoke an Islamic fundamentalist backlash.

1989- in Algeria, Chadli changes the constitution to allow for political parties including the Islamist Islamic Salvation Front- despite their vow to destroy the existing order.

1989- two Libyan fighter jets shot down by warplanes from US aircraft carrier off the North African coast.

-internal and external pressures cause Ghaddafi to withdraw from Chad, allow private enterprise, withdraw support from terror groups and hand over evidence to Britain that he gave support to the IRA.

-Ghaddafi continues building chemical weapons.

The Maghreb Union

1989- the Maghreb Union is founded in Marrakesh, Morocco- with Hassan II, Chadli of Ageria, Zine of Tunisia, Gaddafi of Libya and Sidi Ahmed of Mauritania.

1990- first Maghreb Union summit in Tunis.

-second Maghredb Union Summit in Algiers calls for the princiuple of a customs union.

1990- December- a general strike in Morocco.

-Ghaddafi condemns Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait.

Crackdown on Islamists in Libya.

- Ghaddafi’s increasing moderation causes him to imprison 2,000 Islamist radicals.

1991- UN-brokered ceasefire between the Polisario and Morocco.

Islamists Garner Most Votes in Algerian Eelections.

1991- in Algerian elections, the Islamic Salvation front wins almost half the seats in parliament desppite only 25% of the popular vote and Chadli resigns, giving way to a 5-member transitional state council.

Islamic Insurgency in Algeria.

-an Algerian Islamic insurgency started in 1992 after authorities cancelled elections an Islamist party was poised to win.

1992- February-9- Algeria’s State Council bans the Islamic Salvation Front.

-1992-1999- Algerian civil war between Islamists and the government takes 100,000 lives.

1992- UN imposes sanctions against Libya after it refuses to extradite two Libyans accused in the bombing which brought down a Pan AM passenger plane over Lockerbie, Scotland.

1992- clashes in Algeria between government forces and guerillas of the Islamic Salvation Front. The civil war will last throughout most of the 1990s.

-Libya suffers from UN sanctions, despite its oil wealth.

1994- Tunisian president Ben Ali is re-elected; further constitutional reforms are brought in. However the threat from Islamic fundamentalists is handled by imprisoning them. Ben Ali promotes Tunisian cultural nationalism against continued French influence.

1995- Morocco- a referendum brings about the formation of a bicameral legislature.

Founding of GSPC.

1998- the G.S.P.C. is created as an offshoot of the Armed Islamic Group (GIA), which along with other Islamist guerrilla forces fought a brutal decade-long civil war after the Algerian military canceled elections in early 1992 because an Islamist party was poised to win. The group is founded by Hassan Hattab, a former Armed Islamic Group (GIA) regional commander after breaking with the GIA in in protest over the GIA's slaughter of civilians.

1999- April 5- in a compromise with Ghaddafi, the Lockerbie suspects are handed over under Scottish law for trial at the international criminal tribunal at the Hague. UN sanctions against Libya are lifted.

End of Civil War in Algeria.

1999- Abdul Aziz Bouteflika is elected president despite withdrawal of all other candidates in protest of unfair elections; with approval by referendum, he declares an amnesty with the Islamic Salvation Front and promotes reconciliation, bringing an end to the civil conflict in Algeria.

-many former Algerian GIA fighters lay down their arms, but a few remain active, including members of the GSPC.

1999- Hassan II of Morocco dies and is succeeded by Mohammed VI.

-Mohammed VI brings about reform and reconciliation and allows opposition leaders to return to Morocco. He dismisses Driss Basri, Hassan’s Minister for Domestic Affairs.

2000- Islamist attacks continue in Algeria, despite amnesty.

2000- African immigrant workers killed by Libyan mobs

2001- Lockerbie trial in the Netherlands results in one conviction.

-various countries including the US begin to do business with Libya again. Thus Libya avoided being a target in the War on Terror.

-Morocco: Mohammed IV’s reforms in such matters as women’s rights, prompt a backlash from Islamic fundamentalists.

2001-May- Algerian Berbers in Kabylie are killed by police while protesting police brutality. Later in the year the government gives official status to the Berber language. The main Berber party withdraws from the government in protest.

2002- US and Libya hold reconciliation talks.

Beginning of post- 9-11 Sucide Attacks

2003- May 16- 5 suicide blasts in Casablanca hitting Jewish and Spanish targets.

June- Abassi, Madani leader of Algeria’s Islamic Salvation Front freed from prison.

-Libya elected to chair the UN Human Rights Commission.

August- Libya takes responsibility for the Lockerbie bombing and compensates families of the victims, promises to halt programs for weapons of mass destruction.

GSPC mass kidnapping in Algeria.

2003- a G.S.P.C. leader in southern Algeria kidnaps 32 European tourists, some of whom are released for a ransom of 5 million euros (about $6.5 million at current exchange rates), paid by Germany. Officials say the leader, Amari Saifi, bought weapons and recruited fighters before the United States military helped corner and catch him in 2004. He is now serving a life sentence in Algeria.

Moroccan Connection to Madrid Train Bombing.

2004- March 11- suicide bombing of train in Madrid kills 191, injures over 1,000. Lengthy investigation concludes that cells did not come from any well known Islamist group but from Morrocaan hash-smuggling rings previously connected with an Al Qaeda group which became defunct.

-April- Algerian President Boutelika re-elected in a landslide.

June- Abdelmalik Droukdel announces his arrival with a truck bomb at the Algeria’s most important electrical production facility and focuses on associating the GSPC with Al Qaeda. . “The Algerian military says he cut his teeth in the 1990s as a member of the Armed Islamic Group’s feared Ahoual or “horror” company, blamed for some of the most gruesome massacres of Algeria’s civil war.” NYT

-GSPC (al-Qaeda-linked Salafist Group for Call and Combat) declares war on all foreign nationals and interests in Algeria.

- British P.M. Tony Blair visits Libya.

-5 Bulgarian nurses imprisoned in Libya for infecting chidren with HIV.

GSPCmounts attacks in Mauretania.

2005- June – an “attack against a military barrack in Mauritania, executed by Khaled Abul Abbas, chief of the GSPC in the Sahara came as part of this tendency, according to well informed sources. Al-Qaeda was interminably giving guidelines to the Salafist Group since 9/11 attacks.” (ALGERIA EVENTS)

-June-- “Indications that a cross-border alliance was under way came…when the G.S.P.C. attacked a military outpost in Mauritania, killing 15 soldiers. The attackers fled into Mali, according to the United States military.” NYT

End of GIA.

-Nourredine Boudiafi, head of Algeria’s Armed Islamc Group, is arrested, ending the groups effective existence.

September 2005- “the Center for Strategic and International Studies estimated that 600 Algerians were fighting as foreign jihadists in Iraq. At the time, this was believed to be 20 percent of the total strength of the foreign insurgents in Iraq -- the largest of any single group.” -STRATFOR

-Algerian government promises Berbers language rights and capital invesment.

2005- Libya opened to international oil exploration and investment.

GSPC links up, merges with Al Qaeda.

Dec 8- the extremist Algerian Salafist Group for Call and Combat (GSPC) plans to set up an Al-Qaeda branch in the Maghreb countries as a base for attacks to be launched on the countries that support US administration.

2006- January- Al Qaeda in the Maghreb is officially formed from the Algerian GSPC, the Moroccan GICM (responsible for the Casablanca and Madrid bombings in 2003 and 2004 respectively), and other Tunisian elements.

2006- February- Libyans riot against Danish newspaper cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.

Al Qaeda in the Maghreb.

Sept 11- Ayman Zawahiri of Al Qaeda announces the formation of Al Qaeda in the Maghreb.

2006- 6 month Algerian amnesty for Islamists.

2006- May- US begins restoring full diplomatic relations with Libya.

-Algeria, recovering economically, commits itself to paying back its $8 billion national debt.

-September, Rabah Kebir, leader of the Islamic Salvation front, returns to Algeria and urges Islamist militants to disarm.

Dec 10- Algeria- bus bombed carrying foreign oil workers.

2006-2007- Libya’s Gaddafi joins Egypt and Sudan in several attempts at a peace settlement in Darfur.

December- 5 Bulgarian nurses and Palestinian doctor accused of inflecting children with HIV sentenced to life imprisonment.

Dec 2006 to January 2007- (Dec. 23, Jan 3) Algerian Salafist groups engage Tunisian police and army units with 14 terrorists and some police killed.

-Libya cuts the government labour force and moves to stimulate private enterprise.

Al Qaeda in the Sahel.

February- news reports point to Al Qaeda training camps in the Sahel from Senegal to Ethiopia with plans to attack targets in Europe.

Feb 13- GSPC claims responsibility for car bombings in Boumerdas and Tizi Ouzou, on the Berber region of Kabylia in eastern Algeria. (This was a center of resistance during the Algerian war).

-Feb 16 - in the mountain retion of Qashra near the town of Skikda, Alergian police kill 26 and arrest 35 militants in response to the Feb 13 car bombings.

Al Qaeda in the Maghreb present in Morocco.

Feb 20- Moroccan police search for Hmam Bilal et Bel Hachmi and Mohamed Rida who are accused of having ties with groups including the Algeria-based al Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb,

March 4- Algeria- bus carrying Algerian and Russian gas-line workers bombed- killing 3 Algerians and a Russian.

March 11- suicide bombing in Casablanca internet cafe.

April 10- three suicide blasts kill and wound police in raid on Casablanca safe house.

April 11- Algiers- bombings of the police station and prime minister’s office claim 17 lives. Claimed by Al Qaeda.

April 14- two suicide bombings on US diplomatic offices in Casablanca.

June 11- suicide truck bomb kills soldiers at military barracks near Algiers. GSPC claims responsibility.

July- the Bulgarian nurses and the doctor have death sentences in Libya commuted to life. Under a deal with the European Union, they are all repatriated.

Sept 6- suicide blast kills twenty prior to vistit of President Boutefilka near Algiers.

Sept 8- GSPC claims responsibility for bombing of military barracks, killing 37 at Dellys, Algeria.

Oct 7- Zareg Zoheir, mastermind of GSPC suicide bombings killed by Algerian police.

Dec 11- 67 killed in suicide blasts at Constitutional Court and UN offices in Algiers.

Dec 25- French tourists killed by gunman in Mauretania.

2008- Jan 2- suicide attack near police station in Algiers.

January - Libya takes one-month of the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council in a move toward respectability after years as a pariah of the West.

Feb 1- gun attack on Israeli embassy in Nouakshott, Mauretania.

March- heavy fighting in eastern Algeria between GSPC and Algerian army.

April- Spanish police arrest 2 Moroccans in 2003 Casablanca bombings.

June 6- roadside bomb kills 6 soldiers in Algeria.

June 8- double suicide blast in Algerian train station.

July 14- leader of GCPC in Algeria killed in police raid.

2008 July 18, Tunisia- 2 officials and three others were convicted of terrorist activities conspiring to overthrow the government.

Aug 19- Les Issers, Algeria- 43 killed in suicide bombing at police academy.

August - Libya and US sign agreement committing both to compensation of victims in bomb attacks on the other's citizens.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi apologises to Libya for damage inflicted by Italy during the colonial era and signs a five billion dollar investment deal by way of compensation.

Aug 20- double car-bomb attack on Bouira, Algeria, kills workers from a Canadian water treatment project.

2008 Aug 23, A Tunisian court convicts 13 Islamic militants for planning to carry out attacks in Tunisia. 6 more ae convicted on Aug 26 for setting up a guerilla training base in Tunisia's Kef region for sending fighters to Iraq.

September, 2008 - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice makes the highest-level American visit to Libya since 1953. Ms Rice annojunce a new phase of relations between the US and Libya.

November - US Lockerbie victims' group anniunce full payment of compensation from Libya. Restoration of diplomatic relations posisble with United States.

Nov- three Tunisians prosecuted in Milan for their part in an Italy-based European terror network.

2009- Feburary- Tuinisia- a German who attacked Djerba synagogue in 2002 is sentenced by a French court to 18 yerars.

February - Gaddafi elected chairman of the African Union at meetiung of leaders in Ethiopia. He speaks of a "United States of Africa" even embracing the Caribbean.

June - Gaddafi pays his first state visit to Italy, Libya's former colonial ruler and now its main trading partner.

July- Tunisia- nine men, including two airforce officers, charged with plotting to kill US troops during joint mmilitary exercise.

August - Scotland frees jailed Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi on compassionate grounds and returns him to Libya. His release and return to a hero's welcome sturs up controversy.

September - Libyan celebrations mark 40 years since Colonel Muammar Gaddafi seizure of power.

Oct- Tunisia- President Ben Ali elected to a fifth term in office. Warns of legal consequences if the vote is questioned.

Nov- Tunisia- a journalist is jailed for assualt. Taoufik Ben Brik had written critically of the president. Human rights groups say the charge is politically motivated..

December - Diplomatic row between Switzerland and European Union after Gaddafi's son is held in Switzerland on charges of mistreating domestic workers.

2010- January - Russia agrees to sell weapons to Libya in a deal worth $1.8bn in fighter jets, tanks and air defence systems.

June - UN refugee agency UNHCR expelled from Libya.

July - US senators demand inquiry into suspicions that oil giant BP lobbied for release of Libya's Lockerbie bomber.

BP confirms plans to drill soon off Libyan coast.

- July- Tunisia- Fahem Boukadous's appeal upholds his jail sentence for coverage of violent protests.

October - European Union signs an agreement with Libya to slow illegal migration.

November - Group of journalists arrested in apparent power struggle within ruling elite. Gaddafi later orders them freed.

December - WikiLeaks releases US diplmatic cable suggesting that Ghaddafi was prepared to cut trade with Britain if Lockerbie bomber died in jail.

Dec- Tunisia- protests against lack of political freedom and against unemployment become nation wide.

Jan- 2011- Tunisia- demonstrators say police killed at least 50 protesters as demonstrations continue. Government llays the blame on Islamist and left-wing "extremists," reducing the number to 21 killed. Authorities close educational institutions and bring out troop in Tunis to contain demonstrations while promising economic and social reforms. President Ben Ali fires interior minister Rafik Belhaj Kacem, has most of the protestors released and sets up a special committee to investigate corruption.

-Tunisia's Ben Ali flees country ahead of massive protrests.

-Tunisia's Pime Minister Mohammed Ghanoucchi annunces a national unity government, not fully satisfying protestors.

-Tunisia's Ghanouchhi briefly occupies the presidency before a constitutional deciomn kis made for lower house leader Fouad Mebazza to become interim president.

Jan 22- Algeria- sparked by the revolt on Tunisia along with rising prices and unemployment, demonstrators marching on Algiers where met police who opened fire, killing over a dozen.

Jan 26- Morocco- a fourth Moroccan sets himself on fire, in a series of suicide attempts inspired by the self-immolation that set Tunisia's revolution in motion.

February - Arrest of human rights campaigner sparks off violent protests in east Libyan city of Benghazi.