Key events in Lebanon-Syria ties since 2005

Beirut: Key events in Lebanon-Syria ties since the 2005 assassination of five-times premier Rafiq Hariri:

2005:

• February 14: Rafiq Hariri killed in Beirut bomb blast. The anti-Syrian opposition accuses Damascus of ordering the killing, which it denies. The crisis brings calls for the withdrawal of Syrian troops, and the last ones leave in April.
• In May and June, parliamentary elections give a majority to anti-Syrian coalition led by Hariri's son Saad.

2006:

• August: Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem visits Beirut as much of Lebanon is shattered by a devastating war between Israel and the Shiite militia Hezbollah.

2007:

• June 10: The United Nations sets up a Special Tribunal for Lebanon to investigate the Hariri assassination. The first reports conclude there is evidence implicating Syrian and Lebanese intelligence services.

2008:

• May: Social unrest erupts, partly sparked by government efforts to curb a Hezbollah telecommunications network. After around 100 people are killed in a week of clashes, the main Lebanese factions meet in Doha and reach a political accord, under which army leader Michel Sleiman is appointed president.
• July 11: A unity government is formed, with Fuad Siniora as premier.
• July 12: Meeting in Paris between Sleiman and his Syrian counterpart, Bashar al-Assad. The two countries say they will soon open embassies in each other's capitals.
• August 13-14: Sleiman visits Syria.
• October 15: Lebanon and Syria formally establish diplomatic relations for the first time since they emerged as independent states after World War II.

2009:

• June 7: Lebanese parliamentary election is won by the outgoing anti-Syria majority.
• October 8: Saudi King Abdullah and Syria's Assad meet in Damascus and call for a unity government in Lebanon.
• November 9: Prime Minister Saad Hariri forms a government of national unity.
• December 19-20: First official visit to Damascus by Hariri, seeking "privileged, sincere" ties with Syria.

2010:

• July 18: The two countries sign a string of cooperation accords during Hariri's third visit as premier to Syria.
• July 22: Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah says he expects members of his party to be charged by the UN court probing the murder of Rafiq Hariri.
• July 29: Assad and Saudi King Abdullah due in Beirut for summit talks.