Key Events since the Gulf War
The Gulf war
Aug. 2, 1990: Iraqi President Saddam Hussein sends troops into Kuwait. The UN Security Council passes Resolution 660, condemning the invasion and calls for Iraq's full withdrawal.
Aug. 6, 1990: The UN Security Council passes Resolution 661 imposing economic sanctions on Iraq.
Nov. 29, 1990: With Resolution 678, the UN Security Council authorizes the United States and its allies to use "all necessary means" to free Kuwait.
Jan. 17, 1991: "Operation Desert Storm" begins with early morning aerial bombing of Iraq.
Feb. 13, 1991: American warplanes bomb a Baghdad air-raid shelter, killing 300 people.
Feb. 23, 1991: Iraq fails to meet deadline to withdraw, sets Kuwait's oil wells on fire.
Feb. 24, 1991. U.S. and its allies launch ground invasion that overwhelms Iraqi forces.
Feb. 26, 1991: Iraq says it is withdrawing from Kuwait.
Feb. 27, 1991: Kuwaitis welcome allied troops as they arrive in Kuwait City.
March 3, 1991: Iraq accepts the UN's ceasefire terms, agreeing to give up its claim to Kuwait, reveal information about its chemical and biological weapons, release all foreign prisoners and accept responsibility for the deaths, injuries and damage caused during its occupation of Kuwait.
Containment
March -April, 1991 Iraqi forces repress rebellions by Kurds in the north and Shia Muslims in the south.
April 3, 1991: UN Security Council passes Resolution 687, which confirms the terms of the ceasefire and calls for weapons inspections.
April 10, 1991: The U.S. orders Iraq to end all military activity in northern Iraq, establishing a "no-fly zone" for Iraqi aircraft to protect the Kurdish population from attacks. U.S., British and French planes patrol the zone north of the 36th parallel.
April 19, 1991: UNSCOM, the United Nations Special Commission, is established to work with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to carry out weapons inspections in Iraq aimed at finding chemical, biological and nuclear weapons.
May 15 to May 21, 1991: The IAEA conducts its first nuclear inspection in Iraq.
June 9 to June 15, 1991: UNSCOM conducts its first chemical weapons inspection in Iraq.
June 28, 1991: Iraqi troops fire warning shots in the air and refuse to allow UN inspectors into a military compound to examine a convoy of trucks carrying nuclear material. The UN Security Council condemns Iraq for not co-operating with inspectors.
Aug. 2 to Aug. 8, 1991: UNSCOM conducts first biological weapons inspection.
Sept. 6 to 24, 1991: Iraq blocks UNSCOM surveillance flights.
Feb. 28, 1992: United Nations Security Council presidential statement deplores Iraq's failure to disclose WMD programs.
Jan. 1993: U.S. and allies attack missile sites and radar bases in northern and southern Iraq, and an industrial complex near Baghdad.
April 13, 1993: A day before former U.S. President George Bush was to visit Kuwait, 14 arrests are made in alleged plot to assassinate him that Washington blames on Iraqi intelligence.
June 27, 1993: U.S. President Bill Clinton orders the firing of 24 cruise missiles at Iraqi intelligence headquarters in Baghdad to retaliate for alleged assassination plot against former president George Bush.
Oct. 7, 1994: Iraq moves troops toward Kuwait but pulls back after U.S. sends warships, 54,000 troops and warplanes to the region.
April 14, 1995: The oil-for-food program (Resolution 986) is passed by the UN Security Council. Iraq does not accept it until May, 1996, and the program, which allows Iraq to sell export limited amounts of oil in exchange for food and medicines, is not actually implemented until December 1996.
June 14, 1995: Iraq threatens to stop co-operating with UN arms inspectors if their report is unfavourable.
July 1, 1995: For the first time, Iraq acknowledges that is has an offensive biological weapons program.
October 15, 1995: Saddam Hussein stages referendum on his presidency, and 99.96 per cent of Iraqis vote to give him another seven-year term.
Feb. 23, 1996: General Hussein Kamil Hasan al-Majid, Saddam Hussein's son-in-law who fled Iraq in 1995, is killed after returning to Baghdad. Gen. al-Majid had been promised a pardon by Saddam Hussein.
Sept. 3 and 4, 1996: United States launches cruise missiles at Iraqi anti-missile sites to retaliate for Iraqi military's moves into Kurdish "safe haven" in northern Iraq. The U.S. also extends the northern limit of the southern no-fly zone to just south of Baghdad.
Sept. 11, 1996: Iraq fires a missile at U.S. F-16s in northern no-fly zone. U.S. responds by sending more forces to the Gulf region.
Oct. 29, 1997: Iraq says it will no longer allow American personnel to take part in weapons inspections, and accuses U.S. inspectors of spying.
Jan. 12, 1998: Iraq says it will block all further inspections led by American arms inspector Scott Ritter.
Feb. 23, 1998: After meeting with Saddam Hussein in Baghdad, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan secures limited access for inspectors to so-called presidential sites in Iraq.
Aug. 5, 1998: Iraq announces end to co-operation with inspectors, but allows "long-term monitoring" programs to remain in place.
Oct. 31, 1998: Iraq ends all co-operation with UNSCOM. U.S. and Britain threaten airstrikes.
Nov. 5, 1998: UN Security Council condemns Iraqi move as "flagrant" violation of council resolutions.
Nov. 14, 1998: Iraq tells Security Council it will allow inspectors to return to work.
Dec. 9 to 15, 1998: Iraq again obstructs inspections and UNSCOM reports that it cannot continue its mandate.
Dec. 16-19, 1998: After UN staff are removed from Baghdad, the United States and Britain launch a bombing campaign, Operation Desert Fox, in an effort to destroy Iraq's nuclear, chemical and biological weapons programs.
Dec. 19, 1998: Iraq says UNSCOM will never be allowed back into Iraq.
Dec. 17, 1999: With Resolution 1284, the UN Security Council creates the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) to replace UNSCOM.
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