CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS, MID 2004 - SEPTEMBER 2005
2004
- 26 August 2004, Rafik Hariri meets in Damascus with Syrian President Bashar Assad to discuss the extension of the term of President Lahoud.
- 2 September 2004, the United Nations Security Council adopts resolution 1559 concerning the situation in the Middle East, calling for the withdrawal of all foreign forces from Lebanon.
- 3 September 2004, the Rafik Hariri bloc approves the extension law for President Lahoud.
- 3 September 2004, the Lebanese parliament adopts the extension law for President Lahoud and forwards it to the Lebanese government for execution.
- 7 September 2004, Economy Minister Marwan Hamadeh, Culture Minister Ghazi Aridi, Minister of Refugee Affairs Abdullah Farhat and Environment MinisterFares Boueiz, resigned from the cabinet in protest at the constitutional amendment.
- 9 September 2004, Prime Minister Rafik Hariri indicates to journalists that he will resign.
- 1 October 2004, Assassination attempt on Marwan Hamadeh, in Beirut, Lebanon.
- 4 October 2004, Rafik Hariri resigns as prime minister.
- 11 October 2004, Syrian President Bashar Assad delivers a speech condemning his critics within Lebanon and the United Nations.
- 19 October 2004, United Nations Security Council expresses concern that resolution 1559 has not been implemented.
- 20 October 2004, President Lahoud accepts Hariri's resignation and names Omar Karame to form the new government.
2005
- 14 February 2005, Rafik Hariri and 22 other individuals are killed in a massive blast in a seafront area of central Beirut.
- 25 February 2005, the United Nations Fact-Finding Mission arrives in Lebanon.
- 8 March 2005, Hezbollah organizes a one million strong "pro-Syrian" march.
- 14 March 2005, a Christian/Sunni-led counter demonstration demands the withdrawal of Syrian troops and the arrest of the chief of the security and intelligence services.
- 19 March 2005, a bomb explodes in Jdeideh, a northern suburb of Beirut, wounding 11 people.
- 23 March 2005, three people are killed and three others wounded in an explosion in the Kaslik shopping centre, north of Beirut.
- 25 March 2005, the United Nations Fact-Finding Mission issues its report in New York.
- 26 March 2005, a suitcase bomb explodes in an industrial zone in northeast Beirut, injuring six.
- 1 April 2005, nine people are injured in an underground garage in an empty commercial and residential building in Broumana.
- 7 April 2005, the Security Council forms the United Nations International Independent Investigation Commission into the assassination of Rafik Hariri and 22 others on 14 February 2005.
- 19 April 2005, Lebanon's Prime Minister Najib Mikati announces that parliamentary elections will be held on 30 May 2005.
- 22 April 2005, General Jamil Al-Sayyed, head of the Internal Security Forces and General Ali Al-Hajj, head of the Sûreté Générale, decide to put their functions at the disposal of Prime Minister Najib al Makati.
- 26 April 2005, the last Syrian troops leave Lebanon ending a 29 year military presence.
- 26 April 2005, the United Nations Verification Mission starts its mission to verify the complete withdrawal of Syrian military and intelligence agents from Lebanon and its full compliance with the resolution 1559.
- 6 May 2005, a bomb explodes in Jounieh north of Beirut injuring 29 people.
- 7 May 2005, Parliament convenes to adopt the proposed changes to the electoral law of 2000.
- 30 May 2005, the first round of the elections was held. The Rafik Hariri Martyr List, a coalition of Saad Hariri's Future Movement, the Progressive Socialist Party and the Qornet Shehwan Gathering, won the majority of the seats in Parliament.
- 2 June 2005, journalist Samir Kassir is killed when his car explodes in east Beirut.
- 21 June 2005, former Lebanese Communist Party leader George Hawi is killed when his car explodes close to his home in Wata Musaytbeh.
- 30 June 2005, Fouad Siniora, former finance minister under Rafik Hariri, forms the new government composed of 23 ministers.
- 12 July 2005, Defence Minister Elias Murr is wounded and two other people are killed in a car bomb attack in Beirut.
- 22 July 2005, at least three people are wounded near rue Monot when a bomb explodes in the Ashrafieh quarter.
- 22 August 2005, three persons are injured in an explosion in a garage near the Promenade Hotel in the Al-Zalqa area north of Beirut.
- 16 September 2005, one person is killed and ten others wounded by a bomb near a bank in Ashrafieh.
- 19 September 2005, one person is killed and two wounded in a small explosion at the Kuwaiti information office in Beirut.
- 25 September 2005, a car bomb injures prominent news anchor, May Chidiac, in north Beirut.
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