c5,000BC Archeologists at Byblos found at least 12 layers of civilizations that dated back 7,000 years.
(SFEC, 4/13/97, p.T9)

220AD At Baalbeck in the Bekaa Valley the Romans constructed an incomplete acropolis that contained a Temple of Jupiter and a Temple of Bacchus.
(SFEC, 4/13/97, p.T9)

1110 May 13, Crusaders marched into Beirut causing a bloodbath.
(MC, 5/13/02)

1124 Jul 7, Tyre [Tyrus] surrendered to the Crusaders.
(MC, 7/7/02)

1912 Feb 24, Italy bombed Beirut in the first act of war against the Ottoman Empire.
(HN, 2/24/98)

1916 The Sykes-Picot Agreement secretly carved up the Levant into an assortment of monarchies, mandates and emirates. It enshrined Anglo-French imperialist ambitions at the end of WW II. Syria and Lebanon were put into the French orbit, while Britain claimed Jordan, Iraq, the Gulf states and the Palestinian Mandate. Sir Mark Sykes (d.1919 at age 39) and Francois Picot made the deal.
(WSJ, 2/27/00, p.A17)

1920 The French carved Lebanon out of Syria to create a predominantly Christian country. A constitution was drawn up that required the president to be a Maronite Christian, the prime minister a Sunni Muslim, and the speaker of parliament a Shiite.
(SFC, 9/28/98, p.A10)

1920 The French and British signed water treaties to tap the Wazzani for water needs in Lebanon, regardless of effects on neighbors.
(SFC, 9/19/02, p.A12)

1932 Edmund Safra (d.1999) was born to a banking family in Beirut. The Safras left for Brazil in 1948.
(SFC, 12/4/99, p.A15)

1941 Nov 26, Lebanon gained independence from France.
(MC, 11/26/01)

1943 Bishara al-Khuri was elected the first president of modern-day Lebanon. Lebanon did not become fully independent from French rule until 1946. Khuri had previously been Secretary-General of Mount Lebanon (a political predecessor to modern Lebanon administered by the French) as well as its Prime Minister on several separate occasions. In 1943, the French held general elections to fulfill their earlier promises of Lebanese independence. The new government promptly passed legislation to remove French influences in the constitution.
(HNQ, 12/24/00)

1943 Nov 11, The French voiced their dissent by arresting Bishara al-Khuri and most of the government. An insurrection, British diplomatic efforts and one more crisis in 1945 finally left the government restored.
(HNQ, 12/24/00)

1945 Oct 20, Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Lebanon formed the Arab League to present a unified front against the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine.
(HN, 10/20/98)

1946 British and French troops withdrew by the end of 1946 by which time Lebanon had become a member of the United Nations.
(HNQ, 12/24/00)

1948 Bishara al-Khuri managed to get the national legislature to amend the constitution, to allow him to run for a second term.
(HNQ, 12/24/00)

1949 Mar 23, Israel signed a ceasefire agreement with Lebanon.
(www.wikipedia.org)

1952 Sep, Alleged corruption and growing opposition to the Khuri government led to a general strike that forced his resignation. Khuri was succeeded by Camille Chamoun.
(HNQ, 12/24/00)

1954 Beirut Int’l. Airport opened. In 1998 a new $460 million airport was under construction.
(WSJ, 4/6/98, p.A1)

1958 Jul 15, President Eisenhower ordered 5,000 U.S. Marines to Lebanon, at the request of that country's president, Camille Chamoun, in the face of a perceived threat by Muslim rebels; to help end a short-lived civil war.
(SFEC, 4/13/97, p.T8)(AP, 7/15/98)(HN, 7/15/98)

1958 Oct 25, The last U.S. troops left Beirut
(HN, 10/25/98)

1960 St. John Philby died in Beirut from a heart attack. He had orchestrated the Aramco oil deal in Saudi Arabia.
(WSJ, 3/8/99, p.A16)

1968 Dec 28, Israel attacked an airport in Beirut, destroying 13 planes.
(HN, 12/28/98)

1969 Apr 24, The Lebanese army battled with Palestinians.
(MC, 4/24/02)

1970 Sep 17, Jordanian King Hussein moved against PLO guerrillas. The PLO was driven out of Jordan and forced to move to Lebanon.
(SFC, 2/8/99, p.A6)(MC, 9/17/01)

1971 The Palestine Liberation Organization arrived in Lebanon following its ouster from Jordan after losing the battles of “Black September.”
(SFC, 9/28/98, p.A10)

1972 Prime Minister Saeb Salam resigned office following an Israeli commando raid that killed 3 Palestinian guerrilla leaders in Beirut.
(SFC, 1/22/00, p.A21)

1972 Militants of the Japanese Red Army staged a machine-gun and hand-grenade attack at the Lod Airport in Israel. 24 people were killed and a 100 injured. The attackers found refuge in Lebanon until 1997 when they were arrested.
(SFC, 2/19/96, p.A8)

1975 Apr 13, Christian Falange killed 27 Palestinians and began the Lebanese civil war.
(MC, 4/13/02)

1975 Apr, The ambush of a busload of Palestinians driving through a Christian area sparked a civil war that lasted to 1990.
(SFEC, 4/13/97, p.T5)

1975 The (1999) film “West Beirut” was directed by Ziad Doueiri. It followed a group of teenagers in wartime Beirut in 1975.
(SFC, 11/1/99, p.E3)

1975 Maarouf Saad (d.2002), head of the Independent Nasserite Popular Organization, was assassinated. Mustafa Maarouf Saad (24), his son, took over as leader.
(SFC, 8/3/02, p.A18)

1975-1990 An estimated 17,000 Lebanese were reported missing during the civil war. In 2000 a government commission ended a 7-month investigation and said the missing were probably all dead.
(SFC, 7/27/00, p.C16)

1975-1991 The civil war allowed an illicit drug trade to flourish in the Bekaa Valley.
(SFC, 9/29/98, p.A9)

1976 Jan 22, A bank robbery in Beirut netted a world record $20-50 million.
(MC, 1/22/02)

1976 Jun 16, U.S. Ambassador Francis E. Meloy, Jr. was murdered along with his associate Robert Waring, an American economic advisor. The two had been en route to a meeting with Lebanese president-elect Elias Sarkis when they were abducted by Muslim guerillas in Beirut.
(MC, 6/16/02)

1976 Nov 15, A Syrian peace force took control of Beirut, Lebanon.
(HN, 11/15/98)

1976 Nov 21, Syrian army completed its final phase of occupation of Lebanon.
(AP, 11/21/02)

1976-1991 There was a 15 year civil war and there was no government and no army to control lawless groups.
(SFC, 2/19/96, p.A8)

1977 Sep 26, Israel announced a cease-fire on Lebanese border.
(HN, 9/26/99)

1978 Mar 11, 34 Israelis were killed as Palestinian guerrillas went on a rampage on the Tel Aviv-Haifa highway. Palestinian guerrillas based in Lebanon attacked a bus near Tel Aviv and killed over 35 people.
(AP, 3/11/98)(SFC, 5/24/00, p.A15)

1978 Mar 14, An Israeli force of 22,000 invaded south Lebanon, hitting the PLO bases.
(HN, 3/14/98)

1978 Mar 19, Israeli army took control of almost all of Lebanon south of Litani River.
(AP, 3/19/03)
1978 Mar 19, The UN Security Council adopted Resolution 425 demanding that Israel withdraw from Lebanon. UNIFIL, a UN Interim Force, was set up to monitor and ensure withdrawal.
(SFC, 5/24/00, p.A15)

1978 Jun 13, Israelis withdrew the last of their invading forces from Lebanon.
(HN, 6/13/98)

1978 Aug 13, In a Palestinian area of Beirut, Lebanon, a bomb killed 100 people.
(WUD, 1994, p.1691)

1978 Aug, Imam Mousa Sadr, the spiritual leader of Lebanon's Shiite Muslim community, disappeared during a visit to Libya.
(AP, 9/3/03)

1978 Oct 2, Syrian and Palestinians shooting in East Beirut killed 1,300.
(MC, 10/2/01)

1978 The UN Security Council passed a resolution that demanded an unconditional Israeli withdrawal from south Lebanon after a brief Israeli invasion.
(SFC, 4/18/96, p.a-14)

1979 Jan 22, Abu Hassan (Ali Hassan Salameh), the alleged planner of the 1972 Munich raid, was killed by a bomb in Beirut.
(HN, 1/22/99)(MC, 1/22/02)

1979 Apr, Maj. Saad Haddad, founder of the Army of Free Lebanon, proclaimed “independent free Lebanon” near the Israeli border. Militiamen allied themselves with Israel.
(SFC, 5/24/00, p.A15)

1980 Feb 4, Syria withdrew its peacekeeping force in Beirut.
(HN, 2/4/99)

1980 Oct 25, Shafik Wazzan (d. 1999 at 74) became a compromise prime minister after the country had gone 137 days without a government.
(SFC, 7/9/99, p.D6)

1981 Apr 2, Heavy battle took place between Christian militia and Syrian army in East Lebanon.
(MC, 4/2/02)

1982 Jun 4, Israel attacked targets in south Lebanon.
(MC, 6/4/02)

1982 Jun 6, Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon ordered his forces to invade southern Lebanon to drive Palestine Liberation Organization fighters out of the country. Islamic radicals formed Hezbollah in response to Israel’s attack. The Israelis withdrew in June 1985. Hezbollah was formed with Iranian help as a radical offshoot of Amal, a Shiite Muslim movement. A 70-day siege by 30,000 Israeli troops left up to 14,000 Lebanese and Palestinian civilians dead.
(WSJ, 11/17/95, p.A-10)(SFC, 4/17/96, p.A-10)(AP, 6/6/97)(SFC, 6/15/98, p.A10)(SFC, 5/24/00, p.A15)

1982 Jun 11, Israel & Syria stopped fighting in Lebanon.
(SC, 6/11/02)

1982 Jun 29, Israel invaded Lebanon. [see June 6]
(HN, 6/29/98)

1982 Jul 6, President Ronald Reagan agreed to contribute U.S. troops to the peacekeeping unit in Beirut.
(HN, 7/6/98)

1982 Aug 12, Israeli staged heavy bombardment of Beirut.
(MC, 8/12/02)

1982 Aug 20, Some 800 US Marines landed in Beirut, Lebanon, to oversee the withdrawal from Lebanon. In 1983 some 250 Marines and sailors were killed in two different car and truck bombs.
(MC, 8/20/02)

1982 Aug 21, A group of Palestinian guerrillas left Lebanon by ship under an evacuation plan mediated by the United States.
(AP, 8/21/02)

1982 Sep 1, Palestinian Liberation Organization left Lebanon. [see Aug 21]
(MC, 9/1/02)

1982 Sep 14, Lebanon's president-elect, Bashir Gemayel, was killed by a bomb.
(AP, 9/14/97)

1982 Sep 15, The Israeli army occupied Beirut.
(SFC, 5/24/00, p.A15)

1982 Sep 16-18, The massacre of hundreds of Palestinian men, women and children by Lebanese Christian militiamen began in west Beirut's Sabra and Chatilla (Shatilla) refugee camps. Up to 2,000 Palestinian civilians were killed. Israel’s defense minister, Ariel Sharon, was held responsible and lost his top post. In 2001 survivors lodged a complaint in Belgium against Sharon. Elie Hobeika (d.2002), Christian militia chieftain, led the massacre of Palestinian refugees in the Sabra and Chatilla camps.
(AP, 9/16/97)(SFC, 10/10/98, p.A8)(SFC, 5/24/00, p.A15)(SFC, 6/19/01, p.A8)(SFC, 1/25/02, p.A10)

1982 Sep 21, Amin Gemayel, brother of Lebanon's assassinated president-elect, Bashir Gemayel, was himself elected president.
(AP, 9/21/02)

1982 Sep 24, US, Italian and French peacekeeping troops began arriving in Lebanon.
(MC, 9/24/01)

1982 The poet Khalil Hawi committed suicide. His most celebrated poem was titled “The Bridge.” It offered a hopeful vision for the Arab people, but the author was later embarrassed by the poem’s optimism.
(WSJ, 2/20/98, p.A16)

1982 Jacobo Timerman (d.1999 at 76) published "The Longest War: Israel in Lebanon."
(SFC, 11/12/99, p.D6)

1982-1988 Amine Gemayel was president.
(WSJ, 9/12/96, p.A16)

1983 Apr 18, At the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, 62 people, including 17 Americans, were killed by a suicide bomber. In 1996 sixteen Islamic militants were ordered to stand trial by a military court in Lebanon. Hezbollah leader Imad Mughniyeh was suspected of involvement.
(WSJ, 3/26/96, p.A-1)(AP, 4/18/97)(WSJ, 9/19/01, p.A14)

1983 Oct 15, US Marine sharpshooters killed 5 snipers at Beirut Intl. Airport.
(MC, 10/15/01)

1983 Oct 23, A truck filled with explosives, driven by a Moslem suicide attacker, crashed into the U.S. Marine barracks near the Beirut International Airport in Lebanon. The bomb killed 241 Marines and sailors and injured 80. Almost simultaneously, a similar incident occurred at French military headquarters, where 58 died and 15 were injured. Hezbollah leader Imad Mughniyeh was suspected of involvement.
(TMC, 1994, p.1983)(USAT, 6/26/96, p.1A)(WSJ, 8/1/96/p.B1)(AP, 10/23/97) (HN, 10/23/98)(WSJ, 9/19/01, p.A14)

1983 Nov 24, PLO exchanged 6 Israeli prisoners for 4,500 Palestinians and Lebanese.
(MC, 11/24/01)

1983 Dec 4, US jet fighters struck Syrian anti-aircraft positions in Lebanon.
(MC, 12/4/01)

1983 Dec 20, PLO chairman Yasser Arafat and 4,000 loyalists evacuated Lebanon.
(MC, 12/20/01)

1983 Fierce battles raged between the Christian Maronite and Druze militias.
(SFC, 9/28/98, p.A8)

1984 Feb 26, Last US marines in multinational peace-keeping force in Lebanon left Beirut.
(SC, 2/26/02)

1984 Mar 12, Lebanese President Gemayel opened the second meeting in five years calling for the end to nine-years of war.
(HN, 3/12/98)

1984 Mar 16, William Buckley, the CIA station chief in Beirut, was kidnapped by gunmen; he died in captivity.
(AP, 3/16/97)

1984 Sep 20, A suicide car bomber attacked the U.S. Embassy annex in north Beirut, killing a dozen people. 16 people were killed and the ambassador was injured. 23 people were killed.
(AP, 9/20/97)(SFC, 9/12/01, p.A7)(MC 9/20/01)

1984 Salim Moussa Achi (b.1909), aka Dr. Dahesh, Lebanese author and humanist, died. His art collection later formed the core of the Dahesh Museum of Art in NYC.
(WSJ, 9/9/03, p.D6)(www.humanitiesweb.org)

1985 Jan 1, Mustafa Maarouf Saad (d.2002), Lebanese militia leader, lost his sight in a car explosion in front of his house in Sidon. His daughter (13) was killed and his wife lost one eye.
(SFC, 8/3/02, p.A18)

1985 Jan, Israel pulled back to a security zone in southern Lebanon to protect its border.
(SFC, 5/24/00, p.A15)

1985 Jan, Rev. Lawrence Martin Jenco (1935-1996), the director of Catholic Relief Services, was kidnapped by the Islamic Jihad in Beirut. He was freed in July 1986 after negotiations involving the Reagan administration, Shiite radicals and Anglican envoy Terry White. In 1995 he wrote “Bound To Forgive- the Pilgrimage to Reconciliation of a Beirut Hostage.” He shared captivity with Terry Anderson, AP correspondent, David Jacobsen, administrator of Beirut’s American Univ., and Thomas Sutherland, the Univ.'s acting dean of agriculture.
(SFC, 7/20/96, p.A19)(SFC, 8/4/01, p.A3)

1985 Feb 14, Cable News Network reporter Jeremy Levin, who was being held hostage by extremists in Lebanon, was freed.
(AP, 2/14/98)

1985 Mar 16, Terry Anderson, chief Middle East correspondent for The Associated Press, was abducted in Beirut; he was released in December 1991.
(AP, 3/16/97) (HN, 3/16/98)

1985 May 28, David Jacobsen, director of the American University Hospital in Beirut, Lebanon, was abducted by pro-Iranian kidnappers. He was freed 17 months later.
(AP, 5/28/97)

1985 Jun 9, American educator Thomas Sutherland was kidnapped in Lebanon. He was released in November 1991 along with fellow hostage Terry Waite.
(AP, 6/9/97)

1985 Jun 10, The Israeli army pulled out of Lebanon after 1,099 days of occupation
(HN, 6/10/98)

1985 Jun 14, The 17-day hijack ordeal of TWA Flight 847 began as a pair of Lebanese Shiite Muslim extremists seized the plane with 104 Americans shortly after takeoff from Athens, Greece. The hijackers killed Petty Officer Robert Dean Stethem and dumped his body on the tarmac in Beirut. In 2002 Stethem’s family was awarded $21.4 million in compensatory damages from the US Treasury.
(AP, 6/14/97)(HN, 6/14/98)(SSFC, 4/21/02, p.A9)

1985 Jun 30, 39 American hostages from a hijacked TWA jetliner were freed in Beirut after being held for 17 days.
(AP 6/30/97)

1985 Dec 28, Warring Lebanese Moslem and Christian leaders signed a peace agreement.
(MC, 12/28/01)

1985 Israel established a 440 sq. mile security zone in southern Lebanon. The 9-mile wide zone was abandoned by some 400,000 inhabitants and by 2000 only 100,000 remained.
(SFC, 4/18/96, p.a-14)(SFC, 3/10/00, p.A12)

1985-1991 Mustafa Maarouf Saad (d.2002) headed the Popular Liberation Army, a militia of Lebanese Muslims allied with the Palestinian guerrillas.
(SFC, 8/3/02, p.A18)

1986 Mar 5, In Lebanon, Islamic Jihad issued a statement saying it had "executed" French hostage Michel Seurat, who had been abducted almost a year earlier.
(AP, 3/5/00)

1986 Mar 8, Four French television crew members were abducted in west Beirut; a caller claimed the Islamic Jihad was responsible. All four were eventually released.
(AP, 3/8/98)

1986 Apr 17, The bodies of American librarian Peter Kilburn and two Britons were found near Beirut; the three hostages had been slain in apparent retaliation for the U.S. raid on Libya.
(AP, 4/17/97)

1986 Jun 3, Battles in Beirut killed 53.
(MC, 6/3/02)

1986 Jul 26, Kidnappers in Lebanon released the Reverend Lawrence Martin Jenco, an American hostage held for nearly 19 months.
(AP, 7/26/00)

1986 Sep. 9, Frank Reed, director of a private school in Lebanon, was taken hostage; he was released 44 months later.
(AP, 9/9/97)

1986 Sep 12, Joseph Cicippio, the acting comptroller at the American University in Beirut, was kidnapped; he was released in December 1991.
(AP, 9/12/97)

1986 Oct 21, Pro-Iranian kidnappers in Lebanon claimed to have abducted American Edward Tracy (he was released in August 1991).
(AP, 10/21/97)

1986 Nov 3, "Ash-Shiraa," a pro-Syrian Lebanese magazine, broke the story of U.S. arms sales to Iran, a revelation that escalated into the Iran-Contra affair.
(AP, 11/3/97)

1986 Ron Arad, an Israeli airman, was the navigator in a plane that was shot down while bombing a Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon. He was reportedly handed over to a Lebanese Shiite group led by Mustafa Dirani. In 2004 it was reported that Arad died in 1996 , sometime after he was handed by Lebanese fighters to their Iranian sponsors.
(SFEC, 11/17/96, p.A14)(AP, 10/25/04)

1987 Jan 20, Anglican Church envoy Terry Waite disappeared in Beirut, Lebanon, while attempting to negotiate the release of Western hostages. He was freed in November 1991.
(AP, 1/20/98)

1987 Jan 24, Gunmen in Lebanon kidnapped educators Alann Steen, Jesse Turner, Robert Polhill and Mitheleshwar Singh. All were later released.
(AP, 1/24/98)

1987 Jun 18, Charles Glass, a journalist on leave from ABC News, was kidnapped in Lebanon. Glass escaped his captors the following August.
(AP, 6/18/97)

1987 Jul 23, Hussein Hariri (21), a Lebanese hijacker, commandeered an Air Afrique DC-10 flying from Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, to Paris. He was captured during a refueling stop in Geneva and was sentenced to life in prison for killing a passenger and seriously wounding a flight attendant. In 2004 he was released and deported to Lebanon.
(AP, 10/17/04)

1987 Aug 18, American journalist Charles Glass escaped his kidnappers in Beirut after 62 days in captivity. Glass had been abducted June 17 with two Lebanese who were released after a week.
(AP, 8/18/97)

1987 Sep. 5, Some four-dozen people were killed in an Israeli air raid on targets near the southern Lebanese port town of Sidon.
(AP, 9/5/97)

1987 Nov 14, A bomb hidden in a box of chocolates exploded in the lobby of Beirut's American University Hospital, killing seven people, including the woman who was carrying it.
(AP, 11/14/97)

1987 Nov 27, French hostages Jean-Louis Normandin and Roger Auque were freed by their pro-Iranian captors in west Beirut, Lebanon.
(AP, 11/27/97)

1987 Dec 24, In Lebanon, the kidnappers of Terry Anderson released a videotape in which The Associated Press correspondent told his family he was in good health, and said to President Reagan, "Surely by now you know what must be done and how you can do it." Anderson was freed nearly four years later.
(AP, 12/24/97)

1987 The Lebanese Free Forces, a right-wing Christian militia, arranged to accept and store 15,800 barrels and 20 large containers of toxic chemicals from the Italian firm Jelly Wax in exchange for cash. Later German, Canadian and Belgium firms shipped in toxic chemicals for storage. By 1998 70% of the country’s drinking water sources was contaminated.
(SFC, 9/30/98, p.A10)(SFC, 9/30/98, p.A10)

1987 In Lebanon Prime Minister Rachid Karami was killed by a remote controlled bomb that blew up his helicopter off the Lebanese coast. In 1996 former Christian faction leader Samir Geagea was charged for the murder.
(SFC, 8/28/96, p.A10)

1988 Feb 17, Lt. Col. William Higgins, an American officer serving with a United Nations truce monitoring group, was kidnapped in southern Lebanon. He was later slain by his captors.
(AP, 2/17/98)

1988 Feb 19, A group calling itself the "Organization of the Oppressed on Earth" claimed responsibility for the kidnapping in Lebanon of U.S. Marine Lt. Col. William R. Higgins. Higgins was later slain by his captors.
(AP, 2/19/98)

1988 Oct 3, Lebanese kidnappers released Indian educator Mithileshwar Singh, who'd been held captive with three Americans for more than 20 months.
(AP, 10/3/98)

1988 Oct 4, Indian professor Mithileshwar Singh, freed the day before by his Lebanese kidnappers, said his captors had treated him well during his 20 months of imprisonment, but acknowledged "there is no substitute for freedom."
(AP, 10/4/98)

1988 Oct 19, Eight Israeli soldiers were killed in a suicide car bomb attack in south Lebanon.
(AP, 10/19/98)

1988 Oct 31, In Lebanon, the kidnappers of American hostage Terry Anderson released a videotape in which The Associated Press correspondent accused the Reagan administration of blocking his release.
(AP, 10/31/98)

1988 Dec 20, The International Committee of the Red Cross suspended its operations in Lebanon after receiving death threats.
(AP, 12/20/98)

1989 Mar 8, In Lebanon, daily artillery barrages between Christian and Syrian forces and their militia allies began in Beirut; at least 930 people were killed before a cease-fire took hold the following September.
(AP, 3/8/99)

1989 Mar 19, Muslim gunners fire rockets into Christian areas of Lebanon.
(AP, 3/19/03)

1989 Apr 16, Spain's ambassador to Lebanon (Pedro Manuel de Aristegui) was killed by shellfire that broke out between Christian militiamen and an alliance of Syrian and Muslim gunners.
(AP, 4/16/99)

1989 Jul 28, Israeli commandos abducted a pro-Iranian Shiite Muslim Hezbollah cleric, Sheik Abdul-Karim Obeid, from his home in south Lebanon.
(SFEC, 11/17/96, p.A14)(AP, 7/28/99)

1989 Jul 30, In Lebanon, the pro-Iranian group Organization for the Oppressed on Earth threatened to kill an American hostage, Marine Lt. Col. William R. Higgins, unless Israel released Sheik Abdul-Karim Obeid, a cleric seized by Israeli commandos.
(AP, 7/30/99)

1989 Jul 31, A pro-Iranian group in Lebanon released a grisly videotape purportedly showing the body of American hostage William R. Higgins dangling from a rope, a day after his kidnappers threatened to kill him.
(AP, 7/31/99)

1989 Aug 1, The Revolutionary Justice Organization, a pro-Iranian group in Lebanon which had threatened to kill American hostage Joseph Cicippio, extended its deadline a day after another group released a videotape showing a body said to be that of hostage William R. Higgins.
(AP, 8/1/99)

1989 Aug 3, Shiite Muslim kidnappers in Lebanon suspended their threat to execute another American hostage, three days after the purported hanging of Lt. Col. William R. Higgins.
(AP, 8/2/99)

1989 Oct 4, Fawaz Younis, a Lebanese hijacker convicted of commandeering a Jordanian jetliner in 1985 with two Americans aboard, was sentenced in Washington to 30 years in prison.
(AP, 10/4/99)

1989 Oct 22, The Lebanese parliament agreed on a power-sharing formula between Christians and Muslims that ended civil war a year later.
(SFC, 5/24/00, p.A15)

1989 Nov 22, President Rene Moawad of Lebanon was assassinated less than three weeks after taking office.
(AP, 11/22/99)

1989 The Taif Agreement maintained sectarian divisions in government and led to the end of the civil war. It stipulated that Syria withdraw its troops to the border and leave within 2 years.
(SFC, 9/28/98, p.A10)(SFC, 4/4/02, p.A13)

1990 Jan 19, Elias Zayek, leader of the Christian Phalange party of Lebanon was shot and killed in Byblos. Samir Geagea, leader of the of the Lebanese Forces militia, was later accused and convicted (5/20/96) of the murder.
(SFC, 5/21/96, p.A-11)

1990 Apr 10, Three European hostages -- a French woman, a Belgian man and their two-year-old daughter, who was born in captivity -- were released in Lebanon by the Abu Nidal Palestinian guerrilla group following an appeal by Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.
(AP, 4/10/00)

1990 Apr 22, Pro-Iranian kidnappers in Lebanon freed American hostage Robert Polhill after nearly 39 months of captivity.
(AP, 4/22/00)

1990 Apr 30, Hostage Frank Reed was released by his captives in Lebanon, the second American freed in eight days.
(AP, 4/30/00)

1990 Aug 24, Irish hostage Brian Keenan was released by his captors in Lebanon after being held more than four years.
(AP, 8/24/00)

1990 Oct 13, In Lebanon, rebel Christian General Michel Aoun ended his mutiny against the government.
(AP, 10/13/00)

1990 The Lebanese constitution was amended in accordance with the 1989 Taif Accord to end the Christian’s majority status in Parliament.
(SFC, 6/2/00, p.A16)

1991 Jul 18, Shiite Muslim kidnappers in Lebanon demanded the release of two Lebanese brothers being held in Germany, warning there could be “grave consequences.”
(AP, 7/18/01)

1991 Jul 20, Lebanon joined Syria in agreeing to participate in Mideast peace talks with Israel.
(AP, 7/20/01)

1991 Aug 8, Lebanese kidnappers freed British TV producer John McCarthy, held hostage for more than five years; however, a rival group abducted Frenchman Jerome Leyraud, threatening to kill him if any more hostages were released Leyraud was freed three days later.
(AP, 8/8/01)

1991 Aug 10, The Revolutionary Justice Organization, one of the groups holding hostages in Lebanon, announced it would release an American within 72 hours. The next day, Edward Tracy was freed.
(AP, 8/10/01)

1991 Aug 11, Shiite Muslim kidnappers in Lebanon released two Western captives: Edward Tracy, an American held nearly five years, and Jerome Leyraud, a Frenchman who had been abducted by a rival group three days earlier.
(AP, 8/11/97)

1991 Aug 12, A letter from Lebanese kidnappers was made public; it offered to trade the release of Western hostages for the freedom of “all detainees” worldwide.
(AP, 8/12/01)

1991 Sep 11, In the Middle East, hopes grew for the release of Western hostages in Lebanon after Israel freed 51 prisoners.
(AP, 9/11/01)

1991 Sep 24, Kidnappers in Lebanon freed British hostage Jack Mann after holding him captive for more than two years.
(AP, 9/24/97)

1991 Oct 6, Cable News Network obtained and aired a videotape made in Beirut, Lebanon, of American hostage Terry Anderson, who quoted his captors as saying they would have “very good news.”
(AP, 10/6/01)

1991 Oct 21, American hostage Jesse Turner was freed by his kidnappers in Lebanon after nearly five years in captivity.
(AP, 10/21/97)

1991 Nov 18, Shiite Muslim kidnappers in Lebanon freed Anglican Church envoy Terry Waite and Thomas Sutherland, the American dean of agriculture at the American University of Beirut.
(AP, 11/18/01)

1991 Dec 1, Kidnappers in Lebanon pledged to release American hostage Joseph Cicippio within 48 hours.
(AP, 12/1/01)

1991 Dec 2, American hostage Joseph Cicippio, held captive in Lebanon for more than five years, was released.
(AP, 12/2/97)

1991 Dec 3, Radicals in Lebanon released American hostage Alann Steen, who had been held captive nearly five years.
(AP, 12/3/97)

1991 Dec 4, Associated Press correspondent Terry Anderson, the longest held of Western hostages in Lebanon, was released after nearly seven years in captivity. The last American hostages in Lebanon were released.
(TMC, 1994, p.1991)(SFC, 9/26/96, p.A3)(AP, 12/4/97)(HN, 12/4/01)

1991 Dec 22, The body of Lt. Col. William R. Higgins, an American hostage murdered by his captors, was found dumped along a highway in Lebanon.
(AP, 12/22/97)

1991 Dec 30, The remains of two American hostages slain in Lebanon, William Buckley and Marine Col. William R. Higgins, arrived in the United States for burial.
(AP, 12/30/01)

1991 The civil war ended.
(SFC, 9/28/98, p.A8)

1991 The “Treaty of Brotherhood” formalized the intervention of Syria.
(SFC, 6/2/00, p.A16)

1992 Feb 16, Israeli helicopters attacked a convoy in Sidon, Lebanon, killing Sheik Abbas Musawi, leader of the pro-Iranian group Hezbollah.
(AP, 2/16/02)

1992 Jul 23, Secretary of State James A. Baker III, touring the Middle East, made a secret visit to Lebanon.
(AP, 7/23/02)

1992 Dec 13, An Israeli border guard was kidnapped near Tel Aviv and later killed by the Hamas fundamentalist organization. The slaying prompted Israel to expel hundreds of Palestinians, sending them into Lebanese territory.
(AP, 12/13/97)

1992 Dec 19, More than 400 suspected Muslim fundamentalists deported by Israel were confined to a makeshift refugee camp in a "no man's land" in Lebanon because of the Lebanese government's refusal to accept them.
(AP, 12/19/97)

1992 Rafik Hariri, billionaire businessman, led the reconstruction of Lebanon after taking office as Prime Minister. He hired a Cairo-based engineering firm to design a world-class financial center and a new airport.
(SFC, 5/4/96, p.A-8)(WSJ, 4/6/98, p.A1)

1993 Jan 9, Two Red Cross officials visited a camp of Palestinians who had been deported by Israel to a no man's land in southern Lebanon.
(AP, 1/9/03)

1993 Jul 25, Israel launched its heaviest artillery and air assault on Lebanon since 1982 in an attempt to eradicate Hezbollah and Palestinian guerrilla threats. Guerrillas fired rockets into Israel. The fighting ended July 31 with a U.S.-brokered cease-fire. Israel and Hezbollah then agreed not to attack civilian targets, but the cease-fire was short lived.
(AP, 7/25/98)(SFC, 5/24/00, p.A15)

1993 Jul 27, Israeli guns and aircraft pounded southern Lebanon in reprisal for rocket attacks by Hezbollah guerrillas.
(HN, 7/27/98)

1993 Adel Darwish authored “Water Wars,” an examination of the water crises in the Middle East.
(SFC, 9/19/02, p.A12)

1994 Feb 27, A Maronite church near Beirut was bombed and 10 people were killed.
(MC, 2/27/02)

1994 May 21, Israeli commandos swept into Lebanon’s eastern mountains and abducted Mustafa Dirani, a Shiite Muslim guerrilla leader of the Believer's Resistance. In 2000 Dirani sued Israel with charges of torture and sodomy. Dirani was released in Jan 2004, as part of a complex prisoner exchange between Hezbollah and Israel.
(SFEC, 11/17/96, p.A14)(SFC, 3/14/00, p.A10)(AP, 5/21/04)

1994 Jun, An Israeli helicopter gunship at Ein Darbara killed at least 30 Hezbollah trainees.
(SFC, 12/5/96, p.C5)

1994 Mohammed Mehdi Shamseddine (d.2001 at 67) was elected spiritual leader of Lebanon’s 1.2 million Shiite Muslims. His life’s work included 25 books on Islamic issues.
(SFC, 1/16/01, p.C4)

1995 Guerillas of the Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel. Hezbollah or Party of God is the Iranian-backed political and military group that is fighting to dislodge Israeli soldiers from southern Lebanon.
(WSJ, 11/29/95, p.A-1) (SFC, 4/14/96, p.1)

1996 Mar 10, Hezbollah guerrillas launched a wave of bomb and rocket attacks on Israeli troops in south Lebanon.
(AP, 3/10/01)

1996 Mar 30, Hezbollah guerillas fired 30 Katyusha rockets across the Lebanon border into northern Israel. Israel responded by shelling 15 Shiite Muslim villages. Israel contended that responsibility for the attacks lies with Lebanon and Syria, which occupies Lebanon with 35,000 troops and exercises dominion over government decisions.
(WSJ, 4/1/96, p.A-1)(SFC, 4/14/96, p.A-10)

1996 Apr 11, Israeli aircraft attacked a Hezbollah command center in Beirut in retaliation for recent rocket attacks on northern Israel.
(WSJ, 4/12/96, p.A-1)

1996 Apr 13, Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah warned of retaliation.
(SFC, 4/13/96, p.A-8)

1996 Apr 18, A base manned by Fijian UN troops in Lebanon was shelled by Israel and led to 75 (revised to 91) civilian deaths. A later UN investigation found the remains of 15 Israeli shells that indicated a targeted assault. Israel called the attack an "unfortunate mistake".
(WSJ, 4/19/96, p.A-1)(SFC, 5/7/96, p.A-8)(AP, 4/18/97)

1996 Apr 22, After 11 days of focusing on Hezbollah guerrillas, Israeli warplanes turned to a new target in Lebanon, attacking the heavily fortified base of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
(AP, 4/22/97)

1996 Apr 25, US Sec. of State Warren Christopher helped produce a cease-fire between Israel and the Hezbollah guerillas in Lebanon.
(WSJ, 5/6/96, p.A-13)

1996 Apr 27, Tens of thousands of refugees streamed home to southern Lebanon after a U.S.-brokered cease-fire silenced the guns in the 16-day Israel-Hezbollah war. The World Bank, which had committed $300 million to rebuilding Lebanon, will consider if more money is needed after the Israeli blitz.
(SFC, 5/4/96, P.A-8)(AP, 4/27/97)

1996 May 3, A preliminary UN report says that Israel fired knowingly on a southern Lebanon UN compound on April 18 after pro-Iranian guerrillas sought refuge in the area.
(SFC, 5/4/96, p.A-8)

1996 May 31, Israeli warplanes attacked a Hezbollah base in eastern Lebanon in retaliation for an ambush that killed four Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon.
(SFC, 5/31/96, A16)

1996 Jun 10, Hezbollah guerrillas killed 5 Israeli soldiers and wounded 6 in a dawn ambush in south Lebanon.
(SFC, 6/10/96, p.A1)

1996 Sep 12, Israel lost 12 commandos in southern Lebanon.
(SFC, 5/24/00, p.A15)

1996 Nov 28, Demonstrations against Prime Minister Hariri’s handling of the economy were broken up with tanks and troops in Beirut.
(WSJ, 11/29/96, p.A1)

1996 Dec 16, The US, EU and other countries agreed to a package of economic and military assistance worth $2.2 billion. The US said that its aid would increase to more than $20 million next year.
(SFC, 12/17/96, p.B3)

1997 Feb, Lebanon detained 5 members of the Japanese Red Army.
(SFC, 11/9/00, p.C2)

1997 Mar, Lebanon granted Kozo Okamoto, Japanese Red Army member, political asylum and deported 4 others to Japan. [see Jun 9]
(SFC, 11/9/00, p.C2)

1997 Jun 9, Five Japanese Red Army guerillas went on trial on charges of passport forgery and illegal entry. The light charges prevented their extradition to Japan. [see Mar]
(SFC, 6/10/97, p.A16)

1997 Jul 30, The US lifted a 12-year ban on US citizens visits to Lebanon.
(G&M, 7/31/97, p.A8)

1997 Aug 8, Fighting broke out on the Israel-Lebanon border when guerrillas fired rockets into northern Israel and Israeli warplanes struck back. !3 people have died since Monday when Israeli commandos set off bombs behind the front line killing 3 guerrilla field commanders and 2 fighters.
(SFC, 8/9/97, p.A8)

1997 Aug 18, Militiamen under the South Lebanon Army, a key ally of Israel, shelled the port city of Sidon and killed at least 6 people while injuring over 3 dozen. In apparent retaliation northern Israel was hit by dozens of Katyusha rockets fired from Lebanon.
(SFC, 8/19/97, p.A8)

1997 Aug 20, Israeli jets struck deep in Lebanon and bombed a guerrilla base and a power plant supplying electricity to Sidon.
(WSJ, 8/21/97, p.A1)

1997 Aug 28, Four Israeli soldiers were killed in a fire caused by strafing from Israeli helicopters in southern Lebanon in a battle where 4 Amal guerrillas were also killed.
(WSJ, 8/29/97, p.A1)

1997 Sep 4 [5], In Lebanon at least 12 Israeli commandos were killed in a botched raid deep inside Lebanese territory. Itamar Ilya, a commando, was killed with 11 other soldiers in Southern Lebanon.
(SFC, 9/5/97, p.A1)(SFC, 6/26/98, p.A16)

1997 Sep 13, In Lebanon six soldiers were killed in a rocket attack by Israeli helicopters.
(SFEC, 9/14/97, p.A22)

1997 Sep 14, Two Israeli soldiers were killed in a Hezbollah attack in southern Lebanon.
(WSJ, 9/15/97, p.A1)

1997 Oct 8, Two Israeli soldiers were killed in an ambush. The total for the year thus reached 37.
(SFC, 10/10/97, p.D2)

1997 Nov 23, Artillery shells fired by Lebanese guerrillas accidentally struck a village near the Israeli border, killing eight Lebanese. Israel blamed Hezbollah for shelling the Shiite village of Beit Lif in an artillery duel that killed 9 people.
(WSJ, 11/24/97, p.A1)(SFC,11/25/97, p.A12) (AP, 11/23/98)

1997 Nov 24, Israeli warplanes and soldiers attacked supposed guerilla infiltration trails in southern Lebanon. Three Hezbollah were reported killed.
(SFC,11/25/97, p.A12)

1997 Dec 18, A foundation stone was laid for the new US consulate in Beirut.
(SFC,12/19/97, p.B3)

1998 Jan 30, The army clashed with supporters of Sheikh Sobhi Tufaili in Baalbek and at least 50 people were killed. Tufaili had been expelled a week earlier from the Muslim fundamentalist Hezbollah.
(SFEC, 2/1/98, p.A21)

1998 Feb 4, It was reported that the 300,000 Palestinians living in Lebanon in refugee camps were barred from work outside the camps except for common labor or agriculture. The refugees, mostly Sunni Muslims from a minority tribe, were not wanted by the Lebanese.
(SFC, 2/4/98, p.C2)

1998 Feb 20, The book “The Dream Palace of the Arabs” by Fouad Ajami (b.1945 in Lebanon) describes the emergence and collapse of the Arab enlightenment following WW I.
(WSJ, 2/20/98, p.A16)

1998 Feb 26, Three Israeli soldiers were killed in a Hezbollah attack in southern Lebanon.
(WSJ, 2/27/98, p.A1)

1998 Mar 31, A roadside bomb in the Israeli security zone killed 6 construction workers in their pickup truck near Kaoukaba.
(SFC, 4/1/98, p.A10)

1998 Apr 1, Israel accepted the 1978 UN Resolution 425 for withdrawal from the south of Lebanon.
(SFC, 4/2/98, p.A12)

1998 May 13, Israeli jets raided Lebanon and killed 3 men and wounded 21 in an attack on the radical Palestinian group, Fatah the Uprising. As many as 10 men were killed in a Bekaa Valley training camp for Palestinian guerrillas.
(SFC, 5/13/98, p.A13)(SFC, 5/14/98, p.C2)

1998 May 25, Opposition groups made gains in the first elections in 35 years. The first stage of the poll was in the Mount Lebanon governate.
(SFC, 5/26/98, p.A8)

1998 Jun 25, Two Israeli soldiers were killed in southern Lebanon by a roadside bomb and seriously wounded 3. Meanwhile the government traded the corpses of 40 Lebanese guerrillas and the release of 60 Lebanese prisoners for the body of Itamar Ilya, a commando killed on Sep 5, 1997.
(SFC, 6/26/98, p.A16)

1998 Aug 25, Israel fired a rocket from a helicopter into Lebanon that killed guerrilla leader Hossam al-Amin. Lebanese guerrillas then fired Katyusha rockets into Israel and injured at least 19 civilians.
(SFC, 8/26/98, p.A8)

1998 Oct 5, In south Lebanon pro-Iranian Hezbollah guerrillas killed 2 Israeli soldiers with a roadside bomb.
(SFC, 10/6/98, p.A12)

1998 Oct 6, Syria anointed army chief Emile Lahoud, a Maronite Christian, as Lebanon’s president.
(WSJ, 10/7/98, p.A1)(SFC, 10/16/98, p.D2)

1998 Oct 15, The parliament approved Gen’l. Emile Lahoud as president.
(SFC, 10/16/98, p.D2)

1998 Nov 16, In southern Lebanon 3 Israeli soldiers were killed when Hezbollah detonated a road bomb.
(WSJ, 11/17/98, p.A1)

1998 Nov 20, Israel carried out its 100th air raid along with ground attacks in southern Lebanon. One Amal fighter was reported killed.
(SFC, 11/21/98, p.A12)

1998 Nov 24, Pres. Elias Hrawi was scheduled to step down and be replaced by Emile Lahoud. Emile Lahoud was sworn in as president.
(SFC, 10/16/98, p.D2) (WSJ, 11/25/98, p.A1)

1998 Nov 26, In southern Lebanon 2 Israeli soldiers were killed when a roadside bomb blew up their armored vehicle.
(SFC, 11/28/98, p.A10)

1998 Dec 22, In Lebanon an Israeli rocket killed woman and her 6 children.
(SFC, 12/23/98, p.C2)

1998 Dec 23, In Lebanon Hezbollah guerrillas retaliated against Israel with Katyusha rockets at Kiryat Shemona. 16 Israelis were injured.
(SFC, 12/24/98, p.A10)

1998 Dec 29, In Lebanon the Israeli army assassinated Zahi Naim Hadr Ahmed Mahabi, a top Hezbollah explosives expert.
(SFC, 1/2/99, p.C12)

1998 Rafik Hariri resigned as prime minister.
(SFC, 9/5/00, p.A10)

1998 Shiite Muslims made up 34% of the 3 million population, Sunni Muslims accounted for 21%, Christians made up 37.6% and Druze (a secret religion related to Islam) made up 7.1%.
(SFC, 9/28/98, p.A10)

1999 Jan 3, Israeli warplanes attacked Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon and wounded 6 people including a woman (55) and her 4 daughters.
(SFC, 1/4/99, p.A22)

1999 Feb 18, Israeli troops seized the southern Lebanon village of Arnoun to prevent guerrilla attacks from the Crusader Castle of Beaufort.
(WSJ, 2/19/99, p.A1)

1999 Feb 23, In Lebanon Hezbollah guerrillas ambushed an Israeli commando squad and killed the commander and 2 officers.
(SFC, 2/24/99, p.C3)

1999 Feb 27, Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon detonated 2 roadside bombs and killed Israeli Brig. Gen'l. Erez Gerstein, 2 soldiers and a reporter.
(SFC, 3/1/99, p.A1)

1999 Feb 28, Israel sent warplanes against guerrilla targets in Lebanon in retaliation for the death of Brig. Gen'l. Erez Gerstein and 3 others.
(SFC, 3/1/99, p.A1)

1999 Mar 2, Israeli leaders made campaign promises to leave Lebanon within a year.
(SFC, 3/3/99, p.A10)

1999 Apr 12, In southern Lebanon guerrillas detonated a roadside bomb and killed one Israeli soldier and wounded 2 others. The Shiite Muslim Hezbollah claimed responsibility and announced that Israeli troops had killed one its fighters hours earlier.
(SFC, 4/13/99, p.A11)

1999 May 4, In Lebanon a roadside bomb killed 2 Israeli-backed militiamen. Hezbollah claimed responsibility.
(WSJ, 5/5/99, p.A1)

1999 May 13, In Lebanon a roadside bomb killed a child, 2 women and a pro-Israeli militia officer. The bomb was believed to have been detonated by Hezbollah guerrillas. Separately Israeli planes killed 2 men as they struck back for an overnight attack by guerrillas on Israeli-occupied territory that left 1 civilian dead and 4 injured.
(SFC, 5/14/99, p.A15)

1999 Jun 1, In Lebanon an Israeli supported militia withdrew from a strategic position in South Lebanon.
(SFC, 6/2/99, p.A11)

1999 Jun 8, In Lebanon 3 judges were killed along with a prosecutor in Sidon.
(WSJ, 6/9/99, p.A1)

1999 Jun 9, In southern Lebanon guerrillas ambushed an Israeli military patrol and killed 2 soldiers. This prompted Israeli airstrikes.
(SFC, 6/10/99, p.C3)

1999 Jun 24, Israel bombed Lebanon in retaliation for Katyusha rocked attacks on northern Israel. 2 Israelis and 7 Lebanese were reported killed. Israeli bombing blacked out Beirut, killed 9 Lebanese and wounded as many as 57 people.
(SFC, 6/25/99, p.A10)(SFC, 6/26/99, p.A10)

1999 Aug 8, In southern Lebanon Israeli warplanes bombed suspected rebel positions after Hezbollah guerrillas struck an Israeli outpost at Blatt.
(SFC, 8/9/99, p.A10)

1999 Aug 16, Abu Hassan, a Hezbollah commander, was killed by a roadside bomb in Sidon. Guerrillas blamed the attack on Israel.
(SFC, 8/17/99, p.A8)

1999 Aug 17, In southern Lebanon Hezbollah guerrillas killed 2 Israeli soldiers and wounded 4 others in a revenge clash that left 1 guerrilla dead.
(SFC, 8/18/99, p.A12)

1999 Sep 1, Israeli shelling in southern Lebanon left 2 Lebanese civilians dead after a roadside bomb killed 2 Israeli-allied militiamen.
(SFC, 9/2/99, p.A16)

1999 Oct 29, In Lebanon Israeli warplanes and artillery blasted the southern region after Guerrilla attacks killed 2 Israeli-allied militiamen.
(SFC, 10/30/99, p.A13)

1999 Nov 1, In Lebanon Israeli warplanes fired some 2 dozen missiles at 6 Hezbollah targets in the mountains of Iqlim al-Tuffah.
(SFC, 11/2/99, p.A14)

1999 Nov 2, Israel resumed attacks against Lebanon with 5 missiles at mountain targets at Jabal al-Daher.
(SFC, 11/3/99, p.C5)

1999 Dec 16, In Lebanon shelling by the Israeli allied South Lebanon Army his an elementary school and 20 children were wounded.
(SFC, 12/17/99, p.D8)

1999 Dec 31, In Lebanon Muslim militants ambushed an army patrol and killed 4 soldiers with 3 wounded in Diniyah. A kidnapped soldier was found dead the next day and a kidnapped Lt. Col. Was missing.
(SFEC, 1/2/00, p.A27)

2000 Jan 3, In Beirut, Lebanon, assailants fired rocket-propelled grenades at the Russian Embassy. One police officer and one attacker were killed. In northern Lebanon Muslim militants killed 4 soldiers and 3 hostages.
(SFC, 1/4/00, p.A10,12)

2000 Jan 21, Saeb Salam, former 5 time prime minister, died at age 95.
(SFC, 1/22/00, p.A21)

2000 Jan 30, In Lebanon Col. Akl Hashem, 2nd in command of the Israeli-backed South Lebanese Army, was killed in a Hezbollah bomb at his home attack in Dibel village.
(SFC, 1/31/00, p.A1)

2000 Jan 31, In southern Lebanon a Hezbollah rocket attack killed 3 Israeli soldiers.
(SFC, 2/3/00, p.A13)

2000 Feb 2, In southern Lebanon a roadside bomb killed one man and injured 2 Israeli militiamen.
(SFC, 2/3/00, p.A13)

2000 Feb 4, In southern Lebanon Israeli forces attacked targets for the 7th straight day. A guerrilla commander and 7 civilians were killed.
(SFC, 2/5/00, p.A11)

2000 Feb 6, In southern Lebanon a roadside bomb and attack killed one Israeli soldier and injured 7 others.
(SFC, 2/7/00, p.A14)

2000 Feb 7, Israeli jets launched air attacks deep into Lebanon. Power was knocked out at Baalbek, headquarters of the Hezbollah, and at Beirut and Tripoli. 18 civilians were injured.
(SFC, 2/8/00, p.A12)

2000 Feb 8, In Lebanon Hezbollah guerrillas killed another Israeli soldier and Israeli warplanes retaliated with attacks on Tyre and Iqlim al-Tuffah.
(SFC, 2/9/00, p.A10)

2000 Feb 9, Israeli jets struck targets in southern Lebanon for the 11th day and Foreign Minister David Levy threatened that it would set Lebanon on fire if militants retaliated with rockets.
(SFC, 2/10/00, p.A10)

2000 Feb 10, Israeli jets fired 20 missiles in 8 raids in the Zillaya Valley following Hezbollah attacks on Israeli troops and militia.
(SFC, 2/11/00, p.A14)

2000 Feb 11, In Lebanon Hezbollah launched another rocket attack that killed an Israeli soldier. Israel responded with warplanes and attacks in southern Lebanon and the eastern Bekaa Valley to which Hezbollah responded with fresh hits. Israel cancelled an urgent -US-led meeting called to diffuse the widening war.
(SFC, 2/12/00, p.A11)

2000 Mar 5, In Israel the government voted to back Prime Minister Barak's plan to withdraw troops from southern Lebanon by July.
(SFC, 3/6/00, p.A10)

2000 Mar 17, Lebanon granted asylum to Kozo Okamoto, one of the attackers in the May 30, 1972 attack at an Israeli airport. 4 other Japanese Red Army members were deported to Japan.
(SFC, 3/18/00, p.A3)

2000 Apr 3, US defense chief Cohen said that the US would join an int’l. force in south Lebanon when Israel pulls out.
(WSJ, 4/4/00, p.A1)

2000 Apr 12, In Israel the Supreme Court ruled that the detention of Lebanese men for more than a decade was illegal. A release was scheduled for 13 men on Apr 17.
(SFC, 4/13/00, p.A14)

2000 Apr 26, Prime Minister Salim Hoss announced that UN peacekeepers would be allowed to fill the vacuum left by departing Israelis.
(SFC, 4/27/00, p.A10)

2000 Apr 28, In southern Lebanon guerrillas attacked the Aramta outpost with a car bomb and killed 3-4 Israeli-allied militiamen.
(SFC, 4/28/00, p.A19)(SFC, 4/29/00, p.A14)

2000 May 4, Lebanese guerrillas fired some 20 Katyusha rockets into Kiryat Shemona, a town in northern Israel. One Israeli soldier was killed and over 24 people were injured. Israel retaliated with heavy air strikes.
(SFC, 5/5/00, p.A14)(WSJ, 5/5/00, p.A1)

2000 May 5, Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon agreed to a cease-fire.
(SFC, 5/6/00, p.C1)

2000 May 20, Israeli warplanes attacked Palestinian targets in Lebanon and destroyed 10 tanks. Israeli soldiers clashed with Palestinian demonstrators for the 9th day in Palestinian territories within Israel.
(SFEC, 5/21/00, p.A10)

2000 May 22, Israel’s 22-year occupation of southern Lebanon crumbled as Islamic guerrillas and civilians laid claim to disputed lands.
(SFC, 5/23/00, p.A1)

2000 May 23, The South Lebanon Army abandoned its positions and Israel’s 22-year occupation of its “security zone” ended.
(SFC, 5/24/00, p.A1)

2000 May 28, In southern Lebanon 2 children were killed and 7 people were injured when their car drove over a land mine. In Rmeiche a Hezbollah fighter killed a Christian man. At Kafr Kila Israeli soldiers fired on Lebanese and Palestinian civilians throwing stones across the border.
(SFC, 5/29/00, p.A10)

2000 Jun 16, The Israeli pullout from Lebanon was finished according to UN Sec.-Gen. Kofi Annan. Lebanese Prime Minister Salim Hoss claimed that some Israeli outposts were still present inside their border.
(SFC, 6/17/00, p.A8)(SFEC, 6/18/00, p.A9)

2000 Jun 24, Israeli police fired across the Lebanese border at the Fatima gate at Kfar Kila. 3 Jordanian civilians were wounded.
(SFC, 6/25/00, p.A6)

2000 Aug 5, UN peacekeeping troops began spreading out along the border between Israel and Lebanon.
(SFEC, 8/6/00, p.C9)

2000 Aug 27, Elections were held for 63 seats of the 128-member parliament for Mount Lebanon and North Lebanon.
(SFC, 8/28/00, p.A11)

2000 Sep 3, In Lebanon elections were held for the remaining 65 seats of parliament. Hezbollah had agreed to accept only 12 seats in a coalition with the Shiite Amal Party. Parliamentary seats were apportioned according to religious denomination based on a census from 1932. Candidates backed by former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri gained a powerful majority.
(SFEC, 9/3/00, p.A18)(SFC, 9/4/00, p.B10)

2000 Oct 7, Three Israeli soldiers were kidnapped on the Lebanon border. Un peacekeepers made a film 18 hours later that showed Hezbollah guerrillas, the vehicles used and other evidence of the abduction.
(SFC, 7/12/01, p.A12)

2000 Oct 23, Pres. Lahoud appointed Rafik Hariri (56) as prime minister.
(SFC, 10/24/00, p.A16)

2000 Nov 11, In Naameh two 4-story apartment buildings collapsed and at least 9 people were killed and 27 injured.
(SFEC, 11/12/00, p.A19)(SFC, 11/13/00, p.A14)

2000 Nov 26, Israel attacked targets in southern Lebanon after a roadside bomb killed one Israeli soldier and wounded 2 others near the border. 4 armed Palestinians were killed as they left Qalqilya into an area on Israeli control.
(SFC, 11/27/00, p.A8)

2000 Dec 11, Syria freed some 50 Lebanese political prisoners to placate an anti-Syria movement in Lebanon.
(SFC, 12/12/00, p.B2)

2000 The film “Civilized People,” directed by Randa Chahal Sabbag, was banned in Lebanon and premiered in the US. It was set in 1981 Beirut.
(SFEC, 9/3/00, DB p.53)

2001 Apr 16, Israeli warplanes struck deep in Lebanon and attacked a Syrian radar site. 3 Syrians were killed.
(SFC, 4/16/01, p.A9)(WSJ, 4/16/01, p.A1)

2001 May 24, The Israeli Air Force shot down a small plane off the coast and killed a Lebanese student pilot (43).
(SFC, 5/25/01, p.A14)

2001 Jun 19, Syria completed a pullout of its forces from Beirut.
(WSJ, 6/20/01, p.A1)

2001 Aug 8, In Lebanon up to 250 people were arrested in protests that demanded Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon.
(SFC, 8/9/01, p.A9)

2001 Sep 18, The US asked Lebanon and Syria to extradite Palestinian and Lebanese Shiites suspected of terrorism in the past 20 years.
(WSJ, 9/19/01, p.A12)

2001 Oct 22, Israeli forces held on to Palestinian territory despite US demands for withdrawal. 3 Palestinians were killed as fighting spilled into Lebanon.
(SFC, 10/23/01, p.A13)

2001 Nov 28, It was reported that Hezbollah’s TV channel, al-Manar, was one of 4 Arabic language cable stations available in Paraguay.
(WSJ, 11/28/01, p.A10)

2002 Jan 23, Israeli jets attacked Hezbollah sites in Lebanon after a disputed border area was shelled.
(WSJ, 1/24/02, p.A1)

2002 Jan 24, In Beirut, Lebanon, a car bomb killed Elie Hobeika and three others. Hobeika, a former Christian militia chieftain, led a 1982 massacre of Palestinian refugees in the Sabra and Chatilla camps. He had recently agreed to testify against Israeli PM Ariel Sharon in connection with the massacre. Lebanese for a Free and Independent Lebanon claimed responsibility for the car bomb.
(SFC, 1/25/02, p.A10)

2002 Feb 4, Israeli PM Peres said Iran had put elite forces into Lebanon and had supplied Hezbollah with 10,000 rockets with ranges of 13-44 miles.
(SFC, 2/5/02, p.A10)

2002 Mar 3, Syria’s Pres. Assad officially visited Lebanon for the 1st time in 27 years and met with Lebanon’s Pres. Emile Lahoud.
(SFC, 3/4/02, p.A5)

2002 Mar 27, In Beirut the Arab League opened a summit of its 22 member states. Egypt’s Pres. Mubarek did not attend. It dissolved into chaos when Palestinian delegates stalked out when Arafat was not given a prominent place for a live broadcast. Arafat endorsed the peace initiative of Prince Abdullah.
(SFC, 3/26/02, p.A10)(WSJ, 3/27/02, p.A1)

2002 Apr 3, Israeli tanks entered the Wet Bank cities of Jenin, Salfeet and Nablus. At least 1 Israeli soldier and 12 Palestinians were killed. Gunners from Lebanon’s Hezbollah exchanged artillery and mortar fire with Israeli troops. Scores of Palestinian gunmen were holed up in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. The Egyptian government announced a cutoff of official contacts with Israel. Syria shifted 20,000 troops in Lebanon toward the Lebanese-Syrian border reportedly in accord with the 1989 Taif agreement.
(SFC, 4/3/02, p.A1)(SFC, 4/4/02, p.A1,13)(WSJ, 4/4/02, p.A1)(SSFC, 4/7/02, p.A4)

2002 Apr 4, Israel continued for a 7th-day its offensive titled Operation Defensive Shield. Tanks entered Hebron house-to-house fighting with Palestinian gunmen in the Jenin refugee camp. 3 Israeli soldiers were killed. Guerrilla fighters fired 9 rockets into Israel.
(SFC, 4/5/02, p.A16)

2002 May 20, In Lebanon a car bomb killed Jihad Jibril (38), head of local military operations for the PFLP-GC. He was the son of Palestinian guerrilla leader Ahmed Jibril who headed the Syrian-based Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command, founded in 1968.
(SFC, 5/21/02, p.A16)

2002 Jul 11, Three members of the Lebanese army intelligence service were killed while trying to make arrests near Lebanon's largest Palestinian refugee camp, the Lebanese army said.
(AP, 7/11/02)

2002 Jul 31, In Lebanon a disgruntled Education Ministry employee opened fire at colleagues at a ministry office in Beirut, killing eight people and wounding five before he was apprehended by police.
(AP, 7/31/02)

2002 Sep 14, President Emile Lahoud said Lebanon will start pumping water from a shared border river for its southern villages despite Israeli military threats.
(AP, 9/14/02)

2002 Sep 27, In Lebanon tens of thousands marched through the streets of Beirut chanting "death to Israel" and "death to America," in support of Palestinians' third year of uprising.
(AP, 9/27/02)

2002 Nov 21, In Sidon, Lebanon, Bonnie Witherall (31), an American missionary, was shot and killed at a Christian center that provides medical care and aid to Palestinian refugees.
(AP, 11/21/02)

2002 Nov 23, Some of the world's richest countries agreed to offer about $4.3 billion in financial support for debt-ridden Lebanon.
(AP, 11/23/02)

2003 Mar 2, Syria reportedly finished pulling 4,000 troops out of Lebanon in an effort to reduce tensions and keep radical Sunni groups from attacking Israel.
(SSFC, 3/2/03, A6)

2003 Jul 15, Officials reported that Syrian troops had begun dismantling bases in Lebanon.
(SFC, 7/16/03, p.A3)

2003 Aug 2, A bomb exploded in a car south of Beirut, killing at least two people in the vehicle and wounding passers-by.
(AP, 8/2/03)

2003 Aug 8, Hezbollah guerrillas shelled Israeli positions in a disputed Lebanese border region for the first time in eight months, drawing Israeli airstrikes and artillery fire.
(AP, 8/8/03)

2003 Aug 10, Israeli warplanes bombed suspected Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon, hours after the militant group shelled northern Israel, killing a teenage boy.
(AP, 8/10/03)

2003 Sep 7, The Russian drama "The Return" won the Venice Film Festival's Golden Lion for best picture. Vladimir Girin (15), star of the film, drowned shortly after the film was shot. Randa Chahal Sabbag, Lebanese filmmaker, won the Silver Lion prize for her film “Le cerf-volant” (The Kite), a love story between a Lebanese girl and an Israeli border guard.
(SFC, 9/8/03, p.D5)(WPR, 3/04, p.45)

2003 Oct 11, A Lebanese woman gave birth to sextuplets, four girls and two boys.
(AP, 10/11/03)

2003 Oct 27, Hezbollah guerrillas shelled Israeli positions in southern Lebanon for the first time in two months, wounding an Israeli soldier and triggering Israeli airstrikes and artillery fire. The Israeli positions were in Chebaa Farms, which Lebanon and Syria say belongs to Lebanon. The UN says the area is Syrian and that Syria and Israel should negotiate its fate. Israel captured the Chebaa Farms area from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war
(AP, 10/27/03)(AP, 10/30/03)

2003 Dec 20, A Lebanese military court convicted 32 people of bombing American and British businesses, and imposed sentences ranging from three months to life imprisonment.
(AP, 12/20/03)

2003 Dec 25, A passenger plane bound for Beirut crashed into the sea shortly after takeoff from the west African nation of Benin and at least 138 people, mostly Lebanese, were killed. Some 35 people survived.
(AP, 12/25/03)(SFC, 12/26/03, p.A3)(AP, 12/27/03)

2004 Jan 17, In Lebanon 3 killers were executed and grenade blasts followed in Beirut's largest Palestinian refugee camp.
(WSJ, 1/19/04, p.A1)

2004 Jan 20, Israeli warplanes struck Hezbollah guerrilla bases in southern Lebanon after a soldier was killed there a day earlier.
(AP, 1/20/04)(WSJ, 1/21/04, p.A1)

2004 Jan 24, Israeli officials said they would release over 400 Arab prisoners in a swap with Lebanon's Hezbollah guerrilla group.
(SSFC, 1/25/04, p.A3)

2004 Jan 29, Israel released more than 420 prisoners in a long-awaited swap with the Lebanese guerrilla group Hezbollah in exchange for an Israeli businessman and the bodies of three Israeli soldiers.
(AP, 1/29/04)

2004 Mar 5, A bomb exploded as south Lebanon's police chief was driving across a bridge in the eastern region, blowing off one foot and mangling another.
(AP, 3/5/04)

2004 Mar 23, Israeli helicopter gunships fired on gunmen in southern Lebanon, killing two and wounding one.
(AP, 3/23/04)

2004 May 5, Israeli warplanes fired missiles at a suspected guerrilla hideout in south Lebanon, shortly after Hezbollah gunners fired on Israeli jets.
(AP, 5/5/04)

2004 May 7, Israeli warplanes struck suspected guerrilla positions in southern Lebanon after artillery fire killed one Israeli soldier on the border.
(AP, 5/7/04)

2004 May 27, Lebanese soldiers opened fire on anti-government demonstrators, killing 5 and wounding at least seven. Demonstrators set fire to the Labor Ministry.
(AP, 5/27/04)(WSJ, 5/28/04, p.A1)

2004 Jun 3, In Beirut, Lebanon, OPEC leaders agreed to raise their output ceiling by 2.5 million barrels a day.
(WSJ, 6/4/04, p.A2)

2004 Jun 12, A Lebanese Foreign Ministry official said Iraqi gunmen had kidnapped three Lebanese in Iraq and killed one of them.
(AP, 6/12/04)

2004 Jul 19, The car of a Hezbollah militia official exploded as he was leaving his home in southern Beirut, killing him in an attack the Islamic militant group said was a "brazen crime" by Israel that would be avenged.
(AP, 7/19/04)

2004 Jul 20, Israeli helicopter gunships and tanks fired on Hezbollah guerrilla positions in southern Lebanon, killing one guerrilla, Lebanese security officials reported. Hezbollah said it killed two Israeli soldiers.
(AP, 7/20/04)

2004 Aug 1, A Lebanese hostage was freed unharmed after Iraqi police raided his kidnappers' hideout in an operation that ended with the arrest of three terror suspects.
(AP, 8/2/04)

2004 Aug 13, Lebanon criticized French efforts to ban the militant group Hezbollah's television station, saying the channel may be anti-Israeli but it is not anti-Semitic.
(AP, 8/14/04)

2004 Aug 28, In Lebanon pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud's bid to stay in office three more years was assured in a dramatic about-face when political rival Prime Minister Rafik Hariri bowed to Syrian pressure and proposed a constitutional amendment allowing the head of state to extend his term.
(AP, 8/28/04)

2004 Aug 29, In Sidon, Lebanon, fighting in a Palestinian camp left 3 dead.
(WSJ, 8/30/04, p.A1)

2004 Sep 2, The UN Security Council narrowly approved a U.S.-backed resolution aimed at pressuring Lebanon to reject a second term for its pro-Syrian president and calling for an immediate withdrawal of all foreign forces.
(AP, 9/2/04)(Econ, 9/11/04, p.43)

2004 Sep 4, Lebanese lawmakers amended their constitution to keep pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud in office, boldly reaffirming their loyalty to Damascus and defying a U.N. resolution calling for presidential elections.
(AP, 9/4/04)

2004 Sep 6, In Lebanon 4 Cabinet ministers resigned to protest the extension of President Emile Lahoud's term.
(AP, 9/6/04)

2004 Sep 10, Two Lebanese men were shot dead in Baghdad.
(AP, 9/10/04)

2004 Sep 15, The Egyptian and Syrian presidents linked calls by the UN and fellow Arab leaders for Syrian troops to leave Lebanon to past UN resolutions demanding that Israeli pull out of the West Bank and Golan Heights.
(AP, 9/15/04)

2004 Sep 21, Italian and Lebanese authorities reported the arrest of 10 alleged terrorists, thwarting plans to blow up the Italian Embassy in Beirut in a car bomb attack.
(AP, 9/21/04)
2004 Sep 21, Hundreds of Syrian soldiers stationed in the hills near Lebanon's capital began dismantling their bases in an effort to appease a U.N. Security Council demand that all 20,000 Syrian troops leave the country.
(AP, 9/21/04)

2004 Sep 27, Lebanon said a top al Qaeda operative, captured a week earlier, died of a heart attack while in police custody.
(WSJ, 9/28/04, p.A1)

2004 Oct 1, In Lebanon a car bomb exploded in central Beirut, wounding a former Lebanese Cabinet minister in an assassination attempt. The explosion killed the politician's driver and seriously wounded his bodyguard.
(AP, 10/1/04)

2004 Oct 2, In Lebanon a military prosecutor has charged 35 Arab nationals and alleged members of an al-Qaida-linked terror group with plotting to bomb foreign targets, including the Italian and Ukrainian diplomatic missions.
(AP, 10/2/04)

2004 Oct 20, Lebanon’s PM Rafik Hariri resigned, dissolved his Cabinet and made the surprise announcement that he would not try to form the next government.
(AP, 10/20/04)

2004 Oct 21, Lebanon's Pres. Emil Lahoud appointed staunchly pro-Syrian politician Omar Karami as prime minister, asking him to form the next government.
(AP, 10/21/04)