Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait

1990

2 Aug - Iraq invades Kuwait. UN Security Council Resolution 660 condemns, calls for full withdrawal.
6 Aug - Security Council resolution 661 imposes economic sanctions.
8 Aug - Kuwait is formally annexed. Security Council resolution 662 rejects any legal validity.
29 Nov - Security Council resolution 678 authorises states cooperating with Kuwait to use "all necessary means" to uphold Security Council resolution 660. UN orders Iraqi withdrawal by Jan 15, 1991

1991

17 Jan - US-led Coalition Force attacks Iraq. "Operation Desert Storm" begins with aerial bombing.
27 Feb - Liberation of Kuwait

CEASEFIRE

3 March - Iraq accepts terms of ceasefire. The primary ceasefire UN resolution is 687 requiring Iraq to end its weapons of mass destruction programmes, recognise sovereignty of Kuwait
April - Jointly with IAEA, the UN Special Commission (UNSCOM) is created to ensure Iraq's disarmament and to establish long-term monitoring mechanism to this end.
3 April Security Council resolution 687 (1991), Section C, decides that Iraq shall unconditionally accept, under international supervision, the destruction, removal or rendering harmless of its weapons of mass destruction, ballistic missiles with a range over 150 km, and related production facilities and equipment. It also provides for establishment of a system of ongoing monitoring and verification of Iraq’s compliance with the ban on these weapons and missiles. Requires Iraq to make a declaration, within 15 days, of the location, amounts and types of all such items.
6 April Iraq accepts Security Council resolution 687
8 April: No-Fly Zone A plan for the establishment of a UN safe-haven in northern Iraq, north of the latitude 36 degrees north, for the protection of Kurds is approved at a European Union meeting in Luxembourg. On 10 April, the United States orders Iraq to end all military action in this area.
9 June UNSCOM commences its first chemical weapons inspection.
30 June UNSCOM commences its first missile inspection
15 Aug - The Security Council adopts resolution 706 offering an opportunity for Iraqi oil to be sold and the revenue used to purchase essential humanitarian supplies. Government of Iraq does not accept the resolution.

1992

26 Aug - A no-fly zone, which prohibits the flights of Iraqi planes, is established in southern Iraq, south of latitude 32 degrees north.

1994

10 Nov - The Iraqi National Assembly recognises Kuwait’s borders and its independence

1995

14 April - “Oil for Food Programme" Security Council Resolution 986 allows partial resumption of Iraq’s oil exports to buy food and medicine. Iraq does not implement until December 1996.

1996

3 Sep - United States extends the southern no-fly zone to latitude 33 degrees north.

1998
October

31 Oct - Iraq announces that it will cease all forms of interaction with UNSCOM and its Chairman. The UN Security Council unanimously condemns Iraq's decision. Weapons inspectors leave Iraq.


Operation Desert Fox

1998
December 16-19

16 Dec - US and British forces launch “Operation Desert Fox”, a bombing campaign to destroy suspected nuclear, chemical and biological weapons programmes.
19 Dec. - US Department of Defence briefing:
During the course of DESERT FOX, US and British warplanes fly more than 650 strike and strike support sorties. In all, almost 100 targets are attacked.

1999

4 Jan - Iraq asks the UN to replace its US and UK staff in Iraq
17 Dec - UN Security Council resolution 1284 creates the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) to replace UNSCOM. Iraq rejects the new commission.

2000

Nov - Iraq rejects new weapons inspections

2001

16 Feb - 24 US and British planes carry out bombing raids on five targets outside Baghdad to disable Iraq’s air defence network.

2002

May - UN Security Council Resolution 1409 reviews sanctions list to focus on military and dual use equipment and streamline approval of civilian goods for commercial sale in Iraq.
5 July - Iraq again rejects weapons inspection in talks with UN Secretary General
2 Aug - Iraq invites Hans Blix Executive Chairman of UNMOVIC for talks regarding remaining disarmament issues.
19 Aug - Secretary General Kofi Annan renews offer to facilitate the return of inspectors in accordance with UN Security Council resolution 1284, passed in 1999. The Resolution calls for UNMOVIC inspectors to spend 60 days conducting active inspections to assess what has changed since UN inspectors were expelled in 1998, and what needs to be done for Iraq to be rid of all weapons of mass destruction.
12 Sep - US President George W. Bush, addressing the UN General Assembly, challenges the UN to confront Iraq or step aside while the United States and like-minded nations act.
Security Council begins deliberation on a new resolution to compel Iraqi compliance with previous resolutions.
8 Nov - UN Security Council unanimously (15 votes) passes resolution 1441 outlining an inspection regime to be conducted by UNMOVIC and IAEA in Iraq
13 Nov - Iraq accepts Security Council resolution 1441 and informs the Secretary General of compliance.
18 Nov - Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei arrive in Baghdad with advance team to set up for inspections
27 Nov - Formal inspections begin, almost a month before 45-day deadline for resumption of inspections set forth in resolution 1441.
7 Dec - Iraq provides UN weapons inspectors with 12,000-page declaration of the regimes weapons of mass destruction programmes according to the requirements of UN Security Council resolution 1441. Iraq states that there are no weapons of mass destruction within its borders.
19 Dec - UNMOVIC Chairman Hans Blix reports to the Security Council with observations on the 12,000 page Iraqi declaration.

2003

27 Jan - Blix and ElBaradei report to Security Council 60 days after inspections resumed in Iraq. They both express the need for more time.
28 Jan - Bush warns in State of the Union address: If Saddam Hussein does not cooperate and disarm, the US will lead a coalition force to disarm him.
5 Feb - Secretary of State Colin Powell presents US intelligence on Iraqi activities to Security Council.
14 Feb - Chief U.N. arms inspectors Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei report to the Security Council that to date they have found no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, but banned weapons remain unaccounted for. They stress the need for "active" iraqi cooperation to solve these outstanding issues.
An open debate ensues between Security Council members. Permanent
members France, Russia and China support continued and enhanced inspections
in opposition to the U.S. / U.K. call for force.
15 Feb - Anti war demonstrations attract hundreds of thousands of protestors in cities across the globe, including Amsterdam, Berlin, Cairo, Lahore, London, Madrid, Mexico City, Montreal, Moscow, New York, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, Rome, Sydney.
18 Feb - Security Council convenes open meeting, at request of Non-Aligned Movement, to hear from non-council members on how to disarm Iraq. The majority of non-member states support peaceful disarmament.
24 Feb - Security Council receives two plans on how to disarm Iraq. A draft resolution of U.S., U.K.and Spain finds that Iraq has failed to comply with Resolution 1441 - leading the way to military action - while a "memorandum" from France, Germany and Russia calls for continued inspections.
11-12 March - Security Council holds open debate at the request of the Non-Aligned movement and hears statements from 51 member states and two regional organisations. Most maintain that war is not inevitable and force should be used only as a last resort
12 March - United Kingdom tables a ''non-paper'', which provides more time for arms inspections and sets forth six key tests for Iraqi disarmament.
16 March - Summit meeting of the leaders from the United Kingdom, Spain, United States and Portugal in the Azores.
17 March - Sir Jeremy Greenstock, the United Kingdom Ambassador to the United Nations emerges from closed consultations of the Security Council to announce that the diplomatic process is over and that there will be no vote on the draft resolution co-sponsored by the U.S., U.K., and Spain.
  - Kofi Annan informs the Security Council of his decision to withdraw all U.N. staff from Iraq after receiving phone calls from U.S. officials advising him to do so. All mandates for U.N. business in Iraq are suspended.
  - George Bush gives Saddam Hussein and his sons 48 hours to leave Iraq or risk war.
19 March - U.S.-led forces launch strikes on Iraq at approximately 0230 GMT.
22 March - Another major anti-war demonstration attracts millions worldwide. In London, 500,000 people converge on Hyde Park and in New York more than 200,000 demonstrators march down Broadway voicing their dissent.
26 March - UN Security Council holds first open meeting on Iraq since U.S.-led forces invaded the country.
28 March - UN Security Council unanimously approves a resolution adjusting the suspended oil-for-food programme to give Secretary-General Kofi Annan more authority to administer the operation for the next 45 days. The resolution makes clear the wartime responsibilities of occupying powers, and appeals to the international community and global humanitarian agencies to strive to relieve the plight of the Iraqi people.
4 April - Coalition troops take over Baghdad’s Saddam International Airport and rename it Baghdad International Airport
7 April - British forces take over the city of Basra. The U.S. military targets Saddam in a major bomb blast but his fate is uncertain.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan informs the Security Council of his decision to appoint a special adviser on Iraq, Rafeeuddin Ahmed.
9 April - Baghdad falls to U.S. troops, but sporadic fighting continues throughout the city.
11 April - The U.S. military publishes a list of 55 former Iraqi officials to be pursued, captured or killed. This "most wanted" list is presented as a deck of cards.
The presidents of Russia, France and Germany meet in St. Petersburg to discuss the Iraq situation. Britain's Tony Blair does not attend the meeting.
17 April - Barzan Ibrahim Hasan al Tikriti, Saddam Hussein's half brother, is taken into U.S. custody during a raid in Baghdad.
21 April- The head of the Iraqi Interim Authority, Jay Garner, a retired U.S. lieutenant general, arrives in Baghdad.
24 April - Former Iraqi Prime Minister Tariq Aziz is taken into coalition custody. It seems that he surrenders unconditionally to U.S. forces. He was No. 43 on the "most wanted" list.
The UN Security Council decides to extend the oil-for-food programme.
1 May - President Bush declares victory and announces the end of the major combat operations in Iraq, but he says war on terror will go on.
4 May - U.S. forces arrest Huda Salih Mahdi Ammash, the Iraqi biologist known as "Mrs. Anthrax". She is suspected to be the head of Iraq's nuclear weapons programmes.
11 May - Two months earlier than planned, L. Paul Bremer, an anti-terrorism expert and former U.S. diplomat, replaces the interim administrator in Iraq.
22 May - UNSC decides to lift Iraq sanctions after almost 13 years (Resolution 1483). U.S. and Britain to maintain control over the country until a government is elected.
4 June - Blair announces inquiry into changes made to intelligence reports on Iraq’s weapons programmes, ordered by Downing Street to strengthen the case of war against Iraq.
15 June - With raids in Fallujah, U.S. forces begin Desert Scorpion, a new military operation against terrorism and against Iraqi resistance.
17 June - A commission launches an inquiry into the British government's actions related to the war in Iraq.
18 June - Saddam Hussein’s personal secretary and national security adviser Gen. Abid Hamid Mahmud al-Tikriti is arrested by U.S. troops.
3 July - The U.S. offers a 25-million-dollar reward for the capture of Saddam Hussein.
13 July - Iraq’s new interim council meets for the first time. April 9, day of the fall of Baghdad, becomes national holiday.
18 July - British police find the body of David Kelly, microbiologist, former weapons inspector in Iraq, who went missing from his home the day before. He was alleged to be the “mole” in the Iraqi weapons dossier.
22 July - Qusay and Uday Saddam, Saddam’s sons, killed in a shootout with U.S. forces. Photos of their bodies are shown all over the world as an evidence of their death.
7 Aug - A bomb attack against the Jordanian embassy in Iraq kills at least 10 people and 40 are injured. Five Iraqi policemen are among the victims. Jordan announces continued support for the Iraqi people.
19 Aug - A bomb explosion destroys the UN headquarters in Baghdad, killing some 20 people, including Sergio Vieira de Mello, a veteran UN official. At least 100 people injured.
21 Aug - U.S. forces announce that Iraqi General Ali Hassan al-Majid, dubbed “Chemical Ali”, has been captured. He is Saddam’s cousin and is famous for ordering the 1998 chemical weapons attack on the Kurds.
29 Aug - A car bomb explodes near a mosque in Najaf, an Iraqi holy town, and kills over 120 people, including Ayatollah Mohammed Bakir al-Hakim, Shiite leader.
7 Sep - The Bush government asks Congress for 87 billion dollars to continue the occupation of Iraq, saying that Iraq is “now the frontline” in the war against terrorism.
12 Sep - U.S. troops shoot and kill 10 people, including eight policemen, in Fallujah, central Iraq, apparently by mistake.
22 Sep - The UN headquarters in Baghdad is the target of a suicide bombing that killed an Iraqi guard. It is the second attack in two months.