30 entries on 30 dates · the books disagree on 3
January 2002
January 2002: day not established
After the war · From the books
Elie Hobeika is killed by a car bomb near Beirut.
The former Lebanese Forces intelligence chief, widely held responsible for Sabra and Shatila and a minister after the war, died shortly before he was to testify in the Belgian case against Ariel Sharon.
\_this day in full
February 2002
Thursday, 14 February 2002
After the war · From the books range
Assaad Shaftari's war confessions appear in al-Hayat.
In three interviews with Hazim al-Amin, Hobeika's former aide described his militia years, including orders to execute captives, and called for the truth to be told so that the next generation might forgive.
\_this day in full \_on this day
March 2002
Sunday, 31 March 2002
After the war · From the books
Israel threatens to strike Syria over its support for Hezbollah.
On 14 April, two weeks after that threat, Ariel Sharon charged Syria and Iran with supporting Hezbollah's attacks.
\_this day in full \_on this day
April 2002
Wednesday, 3 April 2002
After the war · From the books
The government announces Syrian troop withdrawals from parts of Mount Lebanon.
The move was presented as an application of the Taif Agreement.
\_this day in full \_on this day
May 2002
Saturday, 25 May 2002
After the war · From the books
On Liberation Day Nasrallah declares Hezbollah's support for the Palestinian intifada.
\_this day in full \_on this day
August 2002
August 2002: day not established
After the war · From the books
Sharon calls a Lebanese water pump on the Wazzani a cause for war.
A war over the Council of the South's plan to supply some fifty villages from the Wazzani, a Hasbani tributary, was averted by American, Russian and European mediation.
\_this day in full
November 2002
November 2002: day not established
After the war · From the books
Before-and-after photographs of downtown go on show in Place de l'Étoile.
Haugbolle calls the book version, 'Beirut's Memory', propaganda: a Solidere-linked bank published it in the name of Hariri's photographer Ayman Traoui. On site, paired 1990 and 2002 views ringed the clock tower.
\_this day in full
December 2002
December 2002: day not established
After the war · From the books
Rustom Ghazaleh replaces Ghazi Kanaan as Syria's intelligence chief in Lebanon.
Kanaan had ruled from Anjar since 1982, vetting candidates and shaping the 2000 electoral map; his recall signalled Bashar al-Assad's tighter grip on Lebanon. Ghazaleh, his replacement, was implicated in Al-Madina bank's 2003 collapse.
Sources differ: Farewell ceremony 9 October 2002 versus replacement in December 2002.
\_this day in full
2002
summer 2002: day not established
After the war · From the books
Much of rebuilt downtown Beirut is inaugurated as 'Beirut reborn'.
Posters ('Le Liban vit'), full-page press advertisements and television spots hailed the completion, with no reference to the war.
\_this day in full
January 2008
Friday, 25 January 2008
Since 2005 · From the books
Intelligence officer Captain Wissam Eid is killed.
Wissam Eid was an officer of the intelligence services.
\_this day in full \_on this day
February 2008
Tuesday, 12 February 2008
Since 2005 · From the books
Hezbollah security chief Imad Mughniyeh is assassinated in Damascus.
Imad Mughniyeh was assassinated in Damascus; Interpol had been seeking him for twenty years over bombings and abductions.
\_this day in full \_on this day
May 2008
Wednesday, 7 May 2008
Since 2005 · From the books range
Hezbollah and its allies take over West Beirut (May 2008).
When the government moved to shut Hezbollah's private telecommunications network and dismissed the airport security chief, Hezbollah, Amal and the SSNP took West Beirut within hours, disarming Future Movement fighters and clashing with the PSP as the army held back. Fighting reached the Chouf and Tripoli. Picard likens it to a brief return of the civil war.
Sources differ: End date: 14 May (Confluences) or 21 May (de Clerck & Malsagne chronology). Deaths: nearly a hundred (de Clerck & Malsagne) against more than sixty (Quéméner).
\_this day in full \_on this day
Wednesday, 14 May 2008
Since 2005 · From the books
The government cancels its two decisions against Hezbollah.
The government rescinded the two moves against Hezbollah that had triggered the fighting: outlawing its private telecoms network and sacking the airport security chief.
\_this day in full \_on this day
Wednesday, 21 May 2008
Since 2005 · From the books
The Doha agreement ends the crisis.
Talks in Doha under Qatari and Arab League mediation ended the fighting. The parties undertook to elect a president at once, renounce political violence, lift the opposition sit-in, form a unity government with an opposition blocking third and redraw constituencies for 2009. Hezbollah's weapons went unmentioned.
Sources differ: De Clerck and Malsagne's narrative (pp. 462-463) has 21 May; their chronology (p. 578) has 25 May, combining the Doha accord with Sleiman's election.
\_this day in full \_on this day
Sunday, 25 May 2008
Since 2005 · From the books
Army commander Michel Suleiman is elected President of the Republic.
His election, provided for by the Doha agreement, ended the vacancy that began when Émile Lahoud's term expired.
\_this day in full \_on this day
July 2008
July 2008: day not established
Since 2005 · From the books
Assad and Suleiman meet in Paris.
The Emir of Qatar met Bashar al-Assad and Lebanon's new president, Michel Sleiman, at the Élysée, where Sarkozy had invited them for the Union for the Mediterranean summit.
\_this day in full
August 2008
August 2008: day not established
Since 2005 · From the books
A bombing kills soldiers in Tripoli.
Picard notes that after the August 2008 attack on soldiers, Tripoli had a deadly bombing every year.
\_this day in full
September 2008
Wednesday, 10 September 2008
Since 2005 · From the books
Druze official Saleh Aridi is killed in a bombing.
Saleh Aridi was a Druze political figure.
\_this day in full \_on this day
October 2008
Wednesday, 15 October 2008
Since 2005 · From the books
Lebanon and Syria establish diplomatic relations for the first time.
The two states agreed to swap ambassadors; Picard judges it an empty gesture aimed at Syria's image abroad.
\_this day in full \_on this day
January 2011
January 2011: day not established
Since 2005 · From the books
Hariri's government collapses as Hezbollah's ministers resign.
Hezbollah's ministers and their allies resigned, toppling the cabinet during the dispute over the UN tribunal's Hariri inquiry.
\_this day in full
February 2011
February-March 2011: day not established
Since 2005 · From the books
Weekly demonstrations call for abolishing the sectarian system.
Weekly marches against the sectarian system drew secular and leftist activists inspired by the Arab Spring; Lebanon, they said, had some twenty dictators, not one.
\_this day in full
March 2011
March 2011: day not established
Since 2005 · From the books
The Syrian uprising begins and immediately plays out in Lebanon.
Lebanese took sides from the revolt's first month; dozens of young Lebanese and Palestinians crossed from Akkar and Hermel to join the rebels around Homs.
\_this day in full
June 2011
June 2011: day not established
Since 2005 · From the books
Najib Mikati forms a government dominated by Hezbollah's allies.
Hezbollah's allies took many cabinet seats; Picard calls it an '8 March' government.
\_this day in full
September 2011
Wednesday, 14 September 2011
Since 2005 · From the books
Syrian and Lebanese intellectuals renew their 2006 declaration.
Nine months into the Syrian uprising, the signatories reissued their 2006 appeal, 'For the sake of the Lebanese-Syrian future'.
\_this day in full \_on this day
September 2011: day not established
Since 2005 · From the books
Maronite Patriarch Bechara Rai backs Bashar al-Assad.
Patriarch Bechara Rai sided with Assad, fearing Islamists would win, though his community was hostile to the Syrian regime.
\_this day in full
February 2017
February 2017: day not established
Since 2005 · From the books
President Aoun tells the UN refugee chief that Syrians cannot stay in Lebanon for good.
Aoun told UN refugee chief Filippo Grandi the refugees could not stay permanently and the world must help them home, but Lebanon would force no one back while Syria was unsafe.
\_this day in full
August 2017
Saturday, 19 August 2017
Since 2005 · From the books
The army launches operation 'Fajr al-Jurud' against the Islamic State on the eastern border.
On President Aoun's orders the army moved against Islamic State and al-Nusra fighters holding the arid hills of Ras Baalbek and al-Qaa, while Hezbollah attacked al-Nusra from the Syrian side, a rare tacit cooperation. The jihadists held out for several days before surrendering, and a truce let the survivors and their families go to eastern Syria.
\_this day in full \_on this day
November 2017
Saturday, 4 November 2017
Since 2005 · From the books
Saad Hariri announces his resignation from Riyadh.
President Aoun refused the resignation Saad al-Hariri announced live from Riyadh; in the view of some Lebanese officials he was acting under Saudi duress and being held there against his will.
\_this day in full \_on this day
Tuesday, 21 November 2017
Since 2005 · From the books
Hariri returns to Beirut and soon withdraws his resignation.
His return followed intense international mediation, especially by France.
\_this day in full \_on this day