January 3: Libya
Libyan Prime Minister Shukri Ghanim says his country is not going to pay full compensation for the Lockerbie bombing, as required by a UN agreement, unless the United States lifts its sanctions on Libya by May. For its part the U.S. says Libya must first eliminate its weapons of mass destruction program and renounce terrorism.
January 6: Iran
Iran’s vice president, Mohammad Ali Abtahi, announces that Iran and Egypt are restoring full diplomatic relations after Iran fulfilled Egypt’s main demand to rename a street bearing the name of the assassin of Egypt’s President Anwar Sadat. Relations between the two countries were cut off in 1980 after Egypt signed a peace treaty with Israel.
January 9: Turkey
Turkey signs a European Convention protocol abolishing the death penalty in all circumstances, including during wars. The protocol is a part of human-rights reforms required by the European Union before a country can become a member of the EU.
January 14: Palestinian Territories
For the first time the Palestinian militant Islamic group Hamas uses a female suicide bomber to attack Israeli interests. Twenty-year-old Reem Raiyshi, a mother of two, blows herself up on the border with Gaza, killing four Israelis.
January 15: Iraq
A document found close to Saddam Hussein during his capture shows that the former president of Iraq warned his followers not to cooperate with radical Arab militants. The document puts into question President Bush’s claim that Hussein had close links with al-Qaeda.
January 16: Iran
Iranian officials say that the death toll from the devastating earthquake in the ancient city of Bam has reached 41,000. The quake destroyed 70 percent of the city buildings, leaving tens of thousands homeless.
January 19: Iraq
Tens of thousands of Iraqi Shia Muslims rally against the U.S.-led coalition’s plan for a transfer of power in Iraq. By allowing the regional bodies to select a transitional government, they fear the plan would once again undermine their group. Instead, Iraq’s Shia majority demands that the interim government be selected through direct elections.
January 20: Israel
About 150 Jewish settlers clash with Israeli troops, protesting the removal of a provisional synagogue in the West Bank. To fulfill the provisions of the peace plan, the Israeli government has ordered the removal of unauthorized outposts on the occupied territories.
January 23: Iran
Iran’s hardline Guardian Council lifts its ban on 350 reformist candidates, allowing them to participate in parliamentary elections next month. The decision comes after the country’s spiritual leader ordered to find a solution to the political crisis created by the ban. However, thousands of candidates are still barred from running.
January 30: Israel/Palestinian Territories
Israeli troops launch a raid into the West Bank town of Bethlehem after a Palestinian suicide bomber blows himself up on a bus in West Jerusalem, killing 10 people and wounding 50. The incursion is the first one since Bethlehem was handed over to the Palestinian Authority last year.
February 2: Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia is planning to remodel some of the holiest Islamic sites in the country after 244 people were crushed to death in this year’s pilgrimage to Mecca. Two million people took part in this year’s Hajj, which is one of the five obligations of the Muslim faith.
February 2: Iraq
At least 56 people are dead and 200 wounded in a double suicide attack on the offices of the two main Kurdish political parties in northern Iraq, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). The buildings were filled with people celebrating the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha. The bombing is blamed on al-Qaeda and its allies.
February 9: Jordan/Syria
Jordan and Syria launch a $90 million Wahdah dam project, which, once completed in 2005, will provide Jordan with water and Syria with power. Although the dam will not solve Jordan’s water deficit, it will reduce it by 10 percent.
February 11: Iraq
A car bomb explodes outside an army recruiting center in Iraq’s capital, Baghdad, killing 47 people. A day before, 50 people were killed in a similar attack on a police recruitment center. This was one of the bloodiest 24 hours since the end of the war. The recent attacks point to a change of tactics by the insurgents who now target Iraqi security forces.
February 19: Iran
Japan signs a $2 billion deal with Iran to develop Iran’s Azadegan oil fields, which are estimated to have reserves of 26 billion barrels. Japan will have a 75 percent interest, and Iran the remaining 25 percent. Japan depends on imports for almost all its energy needs. For Iran, it is the largest foreign project since the Islamic Revolution.
February 21: Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia’s officials start implementing the government’s policy of Saudization by closing down profitable gold and jewelry businesses that employ foreigners. In order to reduce high unemployment, the government is planning to replace 20,000 foreign workers, mostly from Yemen and South Asia, with Saudis.
March 2: Iraq
The Iraqi Governing Council declares a three-day national mourning period following a massacre of Shias in the cities of Baghdad and Karbala. Several well-coordinated explosions aimed at mosques during a Shia holy festival kill more than 140 people and injure more than 500. Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian with links to al-Qaeda, is blamed for the attacks, but the top Iraqi Shia cleric, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, also blames the U.S. for its failure to provide security from foreign attackers.
March 7: Libya
Libya sends all of its known remaining nuclear equipment to the U.S. as part of a disarmament agreement. The final shipment includes centrifuge parts used to enrich uranium, equipment from Libya’s uranium conversion facility, and all long-range missiles and launchers.
March 8: Iraq
Iraq’s Governing Council signs an interim constitution, which will come into effect after the transfer of power from the U.S.-led coalition to Iraqis at the end of June. The document proposes a troika made up of a president and two vice presidents. It has an extensive bill of rights, enshrines Islam as the official religion, and guarantees a quarter of the seats in the parliament for women. The new constitution is said to be progressive by Middle Eastern standards.
March 15: Israel
Israel’s parliament narrowly approves Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s proposal to disengage from political negotiations with the Palestinians and withdraw Jewish settlements from the Gaza Strip. In a speech to the Knesset, Ariel Sharon says that the Ashdod port suicide attack a couple of days earlier proves that Palestinian leaders are unable to tackle terrorism.
March 16: Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia’s authorities arrest five of the country’s prominent reformists who signed a petition calling for political and economic reforms. The arrests include a publisher, Mohammed Said Tayib, two academics, Matrouq al-Faleh and Khalid al-Hameed, and two Islamists, Abdullah al-Hamid and Tawfiq al-Qaseer. The arrests are seen as a warning to deter liberals.
March 22: Lebanon/Israel
Members of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah fire rockets and mortars at Israeli troops in the Shebaa Farms area in the disputed border territory as a response to the killing by Israelis of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. Israel responds with an air raid on the outskirts of the Lebanese village of Kfarshuba.
March 26: Iraq
U.S. troops clash with Iraqi insurgents in the town of Falluja, which is located within the Sunni Triangle, the traditional power base of ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. At least eight people are killed and 25 injured in heavy fighting.
March 27: Iran
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) returns to Iran to conduct inspections of the country’s nuclear facilities. Inspectors are scheduled to visit a gas centrifuge enrichment facility at Natanz and the Isfahan nuclear research center, where they will look for evidence that Iran has been trying to develop nuclear weapons.
April 3: Iraq
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell admits that the evidence he used to convince the UN Security Council to support the war with Iraq may have been wrong. At least two intelligence sources that he referred to are now questionable. His statement might be damaging for the Bush administration in an election year.
April 5: Iraq
About 1,200 U.S. troops and Iraqi security forces launch a major operation to pacify the Iraqi towns of Falluja and Ramadi, both within the Sunni triangle and the center of opposition to the occupation. The U.S. troops engage in fierce fighting with the Shia Muslim Mehdi Army loyal to radical cleric Moqtada Sadr.
April 14: Israel
U.S. President George W. Bush abandons a long-standing American policy and endorses Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s plan to disengage from the Gaza Strip in exchange for keeping six settlement blocks in the West Bank. Palestinians react angrily, warning that the unilateral plan that gives concessions on behalf of the Palestinians will destroy the peace process. Israeli right-wing politicians and the settlers’ lobby also oppose Sharon’s proposal.
April 15: Iraq
Russia evacuates more than 800 Russian and other former Soviet citizens from Iraq amid growing violence and kidnappings, especially after an execution of an Italian hostage by Iraqi insurgents. Three Russians and five Ukrainians were kidnapped and then released a couple days later. Russian firms are involved in reconstruction projects in the power, transport, oil, and gas sectors.
April 15: Iraq
U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld announces that 20,000 U.S. troops scheduled to come back home from their original one-year deployment in Iraq will stay for another 90 days. The announcement comes at a time of an uprising by the followers of the Iraqi radical cleric Moqtada Sadr in the town of Falluja and the biggest outbreak of violence since the end of the military operations in Iraq.
April 21: Bahrain
Bahrain’s King Hamad appoints Nada Haffadh, a doctor and a member of parliament, to head a health ministry, making her the first woman in the Arab world to lead a government ministry. Bahrain is the only Arab Gulf state to allow women to be members of parliament.
May 3: Israel
Israel’s governing Likud Party rejects Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s plan to pull out of the Gaza Strip. The outcome of the vote is a major setback for Sharon. He says he will respect the party’s decision, but is not ready to abandon his project.
May 10: Iraq
U.S. forces destroy a stronghold of the Iraqi radical Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr in Baghdad, killing 35 militants. At the same time, after a month of fighting, a convoy of U.S. Marines enters the volatile city of Falluja as a part of the cease-fire agreement with the insurgents.
May 11: Syria
The United States imposes economic sanctions on Syria after accusing it of sponsoring terrorism and failing to stop militants from entering Iraq. The sanctions include a ban on flights between Syria and the U.S.; a ban on all American exports, except for humanitarian items; and a freeze on certain Syrian assets in the U.S.
May 11: Iraq
An American contractor in Iraq, Nicholas Berg, is beheaded by al-Qaeda suspect Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who says the execution avenges the abuses of Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghraib prison by U.S. forces. Al-Zarqawi offered to exchange Berg for Iraqi prisoners, but the coalition forces turned it down. The videotaped graphic images of the killing spark widespread shock and outrage around the world.
May 28: Iraq
New clashes between insurgents and coalition forces break out in the Iraqi city of Kufa, just 24 hours after a cease-fire agreement with the militia of radical cleric Moqtada Sadr in the holy city of Najaf. Sadr’s militia offered to withdraw from Najaf and Kufa if U.S. forces also withdraw.
May 31: Palestinian Territories
The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees launches an appeal for financial aid for the people in the city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip. The city was destroyed by the recent Israeli raids. As a result of the raids, 760 families have been left destitute. The agency says almost $16 million is needed to repair the damage.
June 1: Iraq
Iraq’s new interim government, headed by president Ghazi Yawer, is sworn in during a ceremony in the country’s capital, Baghdad. Fifty-seven mainly Muslim countries from the Organization of the Islamic Conference pledge their support and assistance for Iraq’s new government.
June 2: Jordan
Jordan hosts an international water-management conference, during which it presents its Red Dead Initiative, a plan to save the Dead Sea from extinction. Jordan warns that the Dead Sea, the world’s saltiest body of water, situated at the lowest point on the earth’s surface, will disappear in 50 years unless it is replenished with more water. The plan proposes to redirect two billion cubic meters of water per year from the Red Sea into the Dead Sea.
June 4: Middle East/Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)
The members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) agree to raise quotas to 2 million barrels a day beginning in July and another 500,000 a day beginning in August. It is hoped that this decision will bring down oil prices, which recently reached a record high in the U.S. of $42.45 a barrel. However, the recent terrorist attack in Saudi Arabia proves that the “fear factor” will remain a crucial element of higher oil prices.
June 15: Iran
A new report from the United States Congress accuses China of supplying Iran with nuclear technology in exchange for oil. The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission declares that China supervised the installation of equipment to enrich uranium in Iran.
June 16: Iraq
The U.S. commission investigating the September 11 terrorist attacks reports that there is no evidence linking Iraq to the al-Qaeda militants who attacked the United States. The conclusion contradicts the Bush administration’s claims that Saddam Hussein had long-established ties with al-Qaeda. These alleged links were part of the justification to invade Iraq.
June 28: Iraq
The United States officially hands over sovereignty to the Iraqi interim government, two days ahead of schedule. During a low-key ceremony in Baghdad, the U.S. administrator of the Coalition Provisional Authority, Paul Bremer, passes legal documents to an Iraqi judge, and later leaves Iraq.
June 28: Iraq
During a two-day summit in the Turkish city of Istanbul, the 26 members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) agree to train the security forces of Iraq’s new interim government. They also decide to expand NATO’s operations in Afghanistan and increase its peacekeeping force to 10,000 troops during the planned September elections.
June 30: Qatar
A Qatari judge sentences two Russian secret agents to life in prison for killing former Chechen leader Zelimkhan Yanderbiyev in Qatar’s capital, Doha, earlier this year. He also accuses Russia of sponsoring the killing.
June 29: Turkey
The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg rules that a Turkish university has the right to ban Muslim headscarves and subsequently rejects the appeal of a Turkish student who argued that the ban violated her freedom of religion. The Turkish government claims that headscarves violate the secular nature of the state. The court’s decision may have implications for other countries.
June 30: Iraq
The United States hands over legal custody of Iraqi former President Saddam Hussein to the new Iraqi interim government. Physically, however, he will stay in U.S. custody until the Iraqi police provide a secure facility. He is expected to be prosecuted on 12 charges, including war crimes and crimes against humanity.
July 3: Yemen
More than 100 people die, many are wounded, and 185 are arrested during clashes between Yemeni forces and followers of rebel cleric Hussein al-Houthi, a member of a moderate Shia community. The government accuses al-Houthi of founding an armed group called Believing Youth and organizing violent anti-American rallies.
July 9: Palestinian Territories/Israel
After five months of debate, the International Court of Justice in The Hague rules that Israel’s West Bank barrier is illegal and its construction should be stopped immediately. Although the court cannot enforce its decision, it can serve as a basis for UN action. Most of the barrier is built on the occupied territories instead of along the internationally recognized border between Israel and the West Bank. Israel’s Prime Minister Ariel Sharon defies the court’s decision and says the building will continue.
July 18: Palestinian Territories
Thousands of Palestinians rally in the Gaza Strip to protest Yasser Arafat appointing his nephew, Moussa Arafat, a chief of public security in response to international demands to reform the Palestinian security forces. Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei rejects the move and hands in his resignation.
July 23: Iraq
The United Nations presents a plan to restore Iraq’s ancient marshlands that supported the Marsh Arabs and provided a habitat for wildlife. Once the largest wetland in the Middle East, 95 percent of the area was deliberately destroyed by Saddam Hussein as revenge for Marsh Arabs’ support to the rebels fighting the Baathist regime. The project will purify contaminated water and recreate natural habitats.
July 28 — Israel
Two hundred French Jews are emigrating to Israel, saying that they fear the rise of anti-Semitism in France and respond to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s call to flee to Israel. The French politicians, however, say that Sharon is using French Jews for his political agenda.
July 28: Iraq
A suicide attack in a crowded market area outside a police station in the Iraqi town of Baquba kills at least 68 people. Insurgents, who oppose the new Iraqi government, frequently target the country’s new security forces. Since the interim government took power in June, at least 160 people have been killed in various attacks.
August 4: Palestinian Territories
Representatives of the Palestinian militant group, Hamas, visit Egypt to discuss an Egyptian plan to provide security for the Gaza Strip after Israel withdraws its troops in 2005. Egypt also offers to send 200 security advisers to train a Palestinian security force.
August 12: Iraq
After a week of heavy fighting in the Iraqi city of Najaf between the coalition forces and Shia militants, the U.S.-led forces surround the city’s Imam Ali Shrine, which is occupied by the followers of radical cleric Moqtada Sadr. Sadr hopes to capitalize on the outrage of the Shia majority in case of an American attack on the shrine. The outcome of the battle for Najaf is important to prove the credibility of the Americans and the new Iraqi government.
August 17: Israel/Palestinian Territories
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon authorizes the construction of 1,000 settler homes in the West Bank although the roadmap Middle East peace plan specifically prohibits any settlements. Israel claims it has backing of the U.S.
August 31: Israel
At least 16 people die and more than 80 are injured after two simultaneous suicide attacks on buses in the Israeli city of Beersheba. The Palestinian militant group Hamas says the attacks are revenge for the assassinations of two of its leaders earlier this year.
September 8: Iraq
The Pentagon announces that the U.S. military casualties in Iraq have reached 1,000 since the invasion of Iraq in March 2003. The figure reopens debate about President George W. Bush’s decision to go to war in Iraq. Violence continues in Baghdad’s Sadr City and in Falluja.
September 9: Iraq/Turkey
U.S. and Iraqi forces launch an offensive in Iraq’s northern town of Talafar, which is said to be a sanctuary for militants entering Iraq from Syria. Turkey urges the U.S. to stop the military operation, saying that ethnic Turks have been killed in air strikes. The U.S. forces are also fighting anti-coalition insurgents in Falluja for the fourth consecutive day.
September 13: Israel
Israeli Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu opposes the plan of unilateral withdrawal of Israeli troops and settlements from the Palestinian territory of Gaza and calls for a national referendum. Thousands of Israeli settlers from the Gaza Strip and their supporters rally in Jerusalem against the plan.
September 14: Iraq
A car bomb explodes in central Baghdad, close to a police station, killing 47 people and injuring more than 100. Gunmen also kill 12 policemen and a civilian in Baquba, north of Baghdad. The Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi’s group claims responsibility for the attacks. Angry Iraqis blame the U.S. military and the Iraqi interim government for failing to provide security.
September 21: Syria/Lebanon
Syria starts redeployment of its troops from Lebanon after the UN Security Council’s adoption of a resolution demanding that Syria withdraw its troops from Lebanon. So far, up to 3,000 troops out of 17,000 are relocating from around the country’s capital, but it is unclear whether the resolution will force Syria to a full withdrawal from Lebanon.
October 1: Israel/Palestinian Territories
Israel sends about 100 tanks into the Jabaliya refugee camp and the towns of Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza in an operation against Palestinian militants. At least five Palestinians are killed in a missile strike in Jabaliya. Israel says the objective is to stop Palestinian rocket attacks on Israeli border towns.
October 1: Iraq
American and Iraqi forces launch a major offensive in the Iraqi town of Samarra in an attempt to take control of the town from insurgents. Dozens of people are dead, including civilians.
October 5: Iran
In a speech to the Aerospace Research Institute in Tehran, Iran’s former President Hashemi Rafsanjani says that Iran has missiles with a range of 1,243 miles. This brings Israel within the range of Iranian ballistic missiles, although Iran says it would use them only in self-defense.
October 7: Iraq
The Iraq Survey Group (ISG) issues a 1,000-page report which states that Iraq had no stockpiles of biological, chemical, or nuclear weapons before last year’s U.S.-led invasion. The report is seen as a final proof for great failures of intelligence. The U.S. and U.K. used allegations about WMD to go to war with Iraq. Despite the lack of weapons, the U.S. government says that Saddam Hussein’s intent and capability to rebuild Iraq’s weapons program justified the decision to invade Iraq.
October 20: Lebanon
Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri and his cabinet submit their resignations to the country’s president, Emile Lahoud, over tensions between the pro-Syrian political supporters and opponents of Syria’s domination of Lebanon. Hariri is pro-Syrian, but a political rival of the president. Lebanon has been in political deadlock since the parliament, under Syria’s pressure, passed a constitutional amendment extending the president’s tenure.
October 28: Iraq
A study published by the Lancet accuses coalition forces in Iraq of poor planning, which led to more than 100,000 additional deaths in Iraq and the catastrophic public health decline. Another study also claims that the risk of death by violence for civilians in Iraq is now 58 times higher than before the invasion.
November 9: Iraq
U.S. and Iraqi troops seize the northern third of the Sunni Muslim city of Falluja from insurgents during the second day of a full-scale operation involving 15,000 troops. Falluja has been a stronghold of resistance to the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq.
November 11: Palestinian Territories
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat dies at age 75 of a multiple organ failure in a French military hospital near Paris. Doctors have diagnosed that he had a low count of blood platelets, but they are not sure what illness caused it. He will be buried in Ramallah. Arafat’s powers are divided among his officials, with former prime minister Mahmoud Abbas becoming head of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and prime minister Ahmed Qurei acting as president of the Palestinian Authority (PA). Farouk Kaddoumi takes over as head of Fatah, the movement co-founded by Yasser Arafat.
November 13: Palestinian Territories
Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei calls for an immediate resumption of peace talks with Israel and announces that Palestine will hold elections to replace Yasser Arafat as the president of the Palestinian Authority on January 9. The dominant Fatah faction selects former prime minister and head of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Mahmoud Abbas as its candidate in the presidential election.
November 19: Iraq
A relief and development organization, World Vision International, pulls out of Iraq after its head of operations, Mohammed Hushiar, is killed in a café in the city of Mosul. World Vision operated in Iraq for 18 months, improving schools, hospitals, clinics, and water supplies. Care International and Medecins Sans Frontieres have already pulled out from Iraq due to a dangerous environment.
November 23: Iraq/Arab League/Organization of the Islamic Conference
World leaders conclude a conference on the future of Iraq, which took place in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh and was attended by the Arab League, the Organization of the Islamic Conference, the G8 nations, and China. The participants adopt a joint declaration, which declares support for the January 30 Iraqi election and emphasizes the leading role of the UN in helping Iraq prepare for the election. The declaration, however, does not set a timetable for the withdrawal of the coalition troops.
December 7: Iraq
Iraqi Interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi makes his first official visit to Russia, where he meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Despite Putin’s criticism about holding elections in Iraq, which is under full occupation, both sides say they are interested in rebuilding their relationship. Allawi says that Russia’s decision to forgive most of Iraq’s debt from the Soviet times will make Russia a leading country in rebuilding the Iraqi economy. Iraq’s debt to Russia amounts to about $8 billion.
December 9: Iraq
Iraq’s majority Shia community forms a broad-based coalition of 22 political parties with 228 candidates to run in the national election in January. The coalition is supported by leading Shia cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. Also, two main Kurdish groups form a single candidate list. The minority Sunni community has not presented a list of candidates, and Sunni clerics call for Sunnis to boycott the election.
December 14: Israel
Egypt and Israel sign a trade protocol with the U.S., opening free access to American markets for Egyptian goods produced in partnership with Israeli companies. However, at least 35 percent of the Egyptian products must be the result of Israeli-Egyptian cooperation. The agreement is considered the most important economic deal between Egypt and Israel in 20 years.
December 27: Iraq
Mohsen Abdul Hamid, leader of Iraq’s main Sunni Muslim party, the Iraqi Muslim Party, says his party is withdrawing its candidacy from the January elections. He states that continuing violence prevents credible elections in six out of 18 provinces and the elections should be postponed.