Iraq Timeline of Events

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Iraq

Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

Timeline of Events

2002

8.20.2002

A group of Iraqis opposed to the regime of Saddam Hussein take over the Iraqi Embassy in Berlin for five hours before releasing their hostages and surrendering.

11.13.2002

Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraq agrees to the terms of the UN Security Council Resolution 1441.

11.18.2002

Iraq disarmament crisis: United Nations weapons inspectors led by Hans Blix arrive in Iraq.

2003

2.10.2003

France and Belgium break the NATO procedure of silent approval concerning the timing of protective measures for Turkey in case of a possible war with Iraq.

3.20.2003

2003 invasion of Iraq: In the early hours of the morning, the United States and three other countries begin military operations in Iraq.

3.23.2003

In Nasiriyah, Iraq, 11 soldiers of the 507th Maintenance Company as well as 18 U.S. Marines are killed during the first major conflict of Operation Iraqi Freedom. 654 Iraqi combatants are also killed.

3.24.2003

The Arab League votes 21-1 in favor of a resolution demanding the immediate and unconditional removal of U.S. and British soldiers from Iraq.

4.9.2003

2003 invasion of Iraq: Baghdad falls to American forces;Saddam Hussein statue topples as Iraqis turn on symbols of their former leader, pulling down the statue and tearing it to pieces.

5.1.2003

2003 invasion of Iraq: In what becomes known as the "Mission Accomplished" speech, on board the USS Abraham Lincoln (off the coast of California), U.S. President George W. Bush declares that "major combat operations in Iraq have ended".

7.22.2003

Members of 101st Airborne of the United States, aided by Special Forces, attack a compound in Iraq, killing Saddam Hussein's sons Uday and Qusay, along with Mustapha Hussein, Qusay's 14-year old son, and a bodyguard.

8.19.2003

A car-bomb attack on United Nations headquarters in Iraq kills the agency's top envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello and 21 other employees.

8.29.2003

Ayatollah Sayed Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim, the Shia Muslim leader in Iraq, is assassinated in a terrorist bombing, along with nearly 100 worshippers as they leave a mosque in Najaf.

12.13.2003

Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is captured near his home town of Tikrit (see Operation Red Dawn).

2004

3.2.2004

War in Iraq: Al-Qaeda carries out the Ashoura Massacre in Iraq, killing 170 and wounding over 500.

3.8.2004

A new constitution is signed by Iraq's Governing Council.

4.30.2004

U.S. media release graphic photos of American soldiers abusing and sexually humiliating Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison.

5.28.2004

The Iraqi Governing Council chooses Ayad Allawi, a longtime anti-Saddam Hussein exile, as prime minister of Iraq's interim government.

6.28.2004

Sovereign power is handed to the interim government of Iraq by the Coalition Provisional Authority, ending the U.S.-led rule of that nation.

10.19.2004

Care International aid worker Margaret Hassan is kidnapped in Iraq.

11.7.2004

War in Iraq: The interim government of Iraq calls for a 60-day "state of emergency" as U.S. forces storm the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah.

11.8.2004

War in Iraq: More than 10,000 U.S. troops and a small number of Iraqi army units participate in a siege on the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah.

11.21.2004

The Paris Club agrees to write off 80% (up to $100 billion) of Iraq's external debt.

2005

2.28.2005

A suicide bombing at a police recruiting centre in Al Hillah, Iraq kills 127.

3.4.2005

The car of released Italian hostage Giuliana Sgrena is fired on by US soldiers after it runs a roadblock in Iraq, causing the death of an Italian Secret Service Agent and injuring two passengers.

4.6.2005

Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani becomes Iraqi president; Shiite Arab Ibrahim al-Jaafari is named premier the next day.

2006

11.5.2006

Saddam Hussein, former president of Iraq, and his co-defendants Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti and Awad Hamed al-Bandar are sentenced to death in the al-Dujail trial for the role in the massacre of the 148 Shi'as in 1982.

12.30.2006

Deposed President of Iraq Saddam Hussein, convicted of the executions of 148 Iraqi Shiites, is executed by hanging.

2007

1.31.2007

Suspects are arrested in Birmingham in the UK, accused of plotting the kidnap, holding and eventual beheading of a serving Muslim British soldier in Iraq.

2008

12.14.2008

President George W. Bush makes his fourth and final (planned) trip to Iraq as president and is almost struck by two shoes thrown at him by Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al-Zaidi during a news conference in Baghdad.

2009

8.19.2009

A series of bombings in Baghdad, Iraq, kills 101 and injures 565 others.

12.8.2009

Bombings in Baghdad, Iraq kill 127 and injure 448.

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