From the books
An opposition general strike turns into Sunni-Shiite clashes.
Sunnis and Shiites clashed in Beirut's Muslim quarters during the strike, and many feared a new civil war.
In the list of 2007 ›111101 entry from the books the books disagree: each version, with the date it gives
- 2007
- January 2007
From the books
Paris III conference pledges 7.6 billion dollars to Siniora's government.
With the opposition sit-in under way in Beirut, Paris III donors pledged Siniora's government 7.6 billion dollars.
In the list of 2007 ›- February 2007
From the books
Bus passengers are killed in bombings at Ain Alaq.
Picard cites the bus bombing to show that ordinary people, not just public figures, were among the victims.
In the list of 2007 ›From the books
Compulsory military service ends.
Quéméner notes that ending conscription, once binding on citizens of every faith, left only the sectarian allocation of officer posts.
In the list of 2007 ›- April 2007
From the books
The Ain al-Rummaneh bus is shown at the war's anniversary.
For the anniversary of the war's outbreak, visitors to the Beirut hippodrome could see the wreck of the Fargo Dodge bus in which 27 people died on 13 April 1975; it was exhibited again in 2011, at the Hangar in the southern suburbs.
Art and memoryIn the list of 2007 ›- film Ziad Doueiri's West Beirut (1998) popularised the Ain al-Rummaneh bus. In Philippe Aractingi's Bosta (2005) a bus touring Lebanon with music and dance quietly recalls it, recasting the symbol of the 1975 rupture as one of reconciliation.
- May 2007
From the books
Battle of Nahr al-Bared between the army and Fatah al-Islam (20 May - 2 September).
Soldiers asleep at an army post by the camp entrance were killed when Fatah al-Islam fighters overran it; the army had been trying to detain members of the group over a Tripoli bank robbery. It then besieged and bombarded the camp for over three months, and 30,000 to 40,000 Palestinian refugees fled.
In the list of 2007 ›From the books
UN Resolution 1757 establishes the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.
The tribunal, charged with identifying and trying those behind the attack on Hariri, came into force under an accord the Siniora government signed in June 2007.
In the list of 2007 ›- June 2007
From the books
Future Movement MP Walid Eido is assassinated.
Walid Eido was one of a series of anti-Syrian deputies killed between 2005 and 2007.
In the list of 2007 ›- August 2007
From the books
A banned play about the war, How Nancy Wished That Everything Was an April Fool's Joke, opens.
Culture Minister Tarek Mitri's intervention lifted an initial ban, and Rabih Mroue and Fadi Toufiq's play opened at Masrah al-Madina. Its multimedia staging set rival war narratives side by side.
Art and memoryIn the list of 2007 ›- artwork Rabih Mroue and Fadi Toufiq's multimedia play pitted rival accounts of the Lebanese role in the war against each other.
- September 2007
From the books
Parliament's session to elect a president is adjourned.
Parliament's sitting to choose Lahoud's successor, called about a week after Antoine Ghanem's assassination, was adjourned; deadlock lasted until May 2008.
In the list of 2007 ›From the books
The army takes control of Nahr al-Bared.
The army regained the camp after more than three months of fighting.
In the list of 2007 ›From the books
Kataeb MP Antoine Ghanem is assassinated.
A car bomb killed him and several others.
In the list of 2007 ›- November 2007
From the books
Émile Lahoud's term ends with no successor: the presidency is vacant.
With the rival blocs deadlocked over who should succeed Lahoud, the presidency stayed empty until May 2008.
In the list of 2007 ›- December 2007
From the books
General François al-Hajj is killed by a car bomb.
A Beirut car bomb killed General François al-Hajj, army chief of operations during the Nahr al-Bared siege and expected successor to Michel Sleiman as commander.
In the list of 2007 ›- 2008
- January 2008
From the books
Intelligence officer Captain Wissam Eid is killed.
Wissam Eid was an officer of the intelligence services.
In the list of 2008 ›- February 2008
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.
In the list of 2008 ›- May 2008
From the books
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.
In the list of 2008 ›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.
In the list of 2008 ›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.
In the list of 2008 ›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.
In the list of 2008 ›- July 2008
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.
In the list of 2008 ›- August 2008
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.
In the list of 2008 ›- September 2008
From the books
Druze official Saleh Aridi is killed in a bombing.
Saleh Aridi was a Druze political figure.
In the list of 2008 ›- October 2008
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.
In the list of 2008 ›- 2009
- February 2009
From the books
Citizens may remove their sect from the civil register.
On 11 February 2009 Interior Minister Ziad Baroud let Lebanese have their sect removed from their civil registry entry.
In the list of 2009 ›- March 2009
From the books
The Special Tribunal for Lebanon opens near The Hague.
The Special Tribunal, set up under Resolution 1757, began work in The Hague; its remit covered Hariri's assassination and related attacks from 2004 on.
In the list of 2009 ›- April 2009
From the books
The four generals held in the Hariri case are released.
Mustafa Hamdan, Jamil al-Sayyed, Ali Hajj and Raymond Azar had been held since August 2005.
In the list of 2009 ›- June 2009
From the books
Parliamentary elections give '14 March' a narrow majority.
Saad Hariri, named Prime Minister after the elections, did not manage to form a cabinet until November.
In the list of 2009 ›- November 2009
From the books
Israel seizes a ship carrying arms in the Mediterranean.
Hezbollah denied Israeli press claims that weapons found aboard a ship intercepted by Israel's navy in the Mediterranean were an Iranian delivery for it.
In the list of 2009 ›From the books
Saad Hariri forms a national unity government.
It took five months after the elections for Hariri to form a cabinet.
In the list of 2009 ›- 2010
- April 2010
From the books
A giant offshore gas field raises tension between Lebanon and Israel.
Friction between Israel and Lebanon grew after a large hydrocarbon field was found off their coasts.
In the list of 2010 ›- July 2010
From the books
Bashar al-Assad and King Abdallah visit Beirut together.
Assad and King Abdallah came to Beirut together to sponsor a Lebanese reconciliation, saying they would secure stability.
In the list of 2010 ›- 2011
- January 2011
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.
In the list of 2011 ›- February 2011
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.
In the list of 2011 ›- March 2011
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.
In the list of 2011 ›- June 2011
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.
In the list of 2011 ›- September 2011
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.
In the list of 2011 ›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'.
In the list of 2011 ›- 2012
From the books
Former minister Michel Samaha is arrested.
Picard treats the arrest as evidence that Syrian-paid agents took part in the unrest after the 2005 withdrawal.
In the list of 2012 ›- February 2012
From the books
Fighting in Tripoli between Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen (February-December 2012).
From February to December, Tripoli's pro-regime Alawite quarter of Jabal Mohsen and its Sunni quarter of Bab al-Tebbaneh, which backed the Syrian opposition, clashed.
In the list of 2012 ›
End of the chronology.