Sept 10 (Reuters) - Following is a chronology of Lebanon's political crisis and efforts to end it over the last two years. Nov. 11, 2006 - Five pro-Syrian Shi'ite Muslim ministers from Hezbollah and its ally, the Amal movement, resign after the collapse of talks on giving their camp more say in government. Nov. 21 - Anti-Syrian Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel is killed by gunmen. Dec. 1 - Hezbollah, Amal and supporters of Christian leader Michel Aoun camp outside Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's office in Beirut, beginning a street campaign to topple the government. June 13, 2007 - Anti-Syrian parliamentarian Walid Eido and five other people killed by a car bomb near a Beirut beach club. Sept. 2 - Lebanese troops seize complete control of Nahr al-Bared camp after months of fighting with Fatah al-Islam militants which kills over 420 people, including 170 soldiers. Sept. 19 - Car bomb in Beirut kills anti-Syrian Christian lawmaker Antoine Ghanem and six other people. Nov. 23 - Pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud's term ends. The presidency is left empty as pro- and anti-Syrian factions could not agree on his successor. Dec. 5 - Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri says rival leaders have agreed on General Michel Suleiman as president, but his election is held up by differences over how to share positions in a new cabinet. Dec. 12 - Car bomb kills Brigadier General Francois al-Hajj, the army's head of operations, and a bodyguard in a Christian town east of Beirut. Jan. 15, 2008 - Bomb in Christian area of Beirut targets a U.S. embassy car. It kills three people but none of the vehicle's passengers. Jan. 25 - Wisam Eid, a captain in a Lebanese police intelligence unit, is killed by a bomb blast in mainly Christian east Beirut. At least five other people are killed. May 6 - Anti-Syrian cabinet takes decision to ban a fixed line communication network operated by Hezbollah and sack the head of airport security -- moves which infuriate the Syria- and Iran-backed group. May 7 - Hezbollah gunmen fight battles with supporters of the governing coalition in Beirut. Hezbollah blocks main roads in the capital. May 8 - Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah says the government has declared "open war" against his group through its May 6 decisions. May 9 - Hezbollah takes control of Muslim half of Beirut. May 10 - Hezbollah fighters pull back from areas they had seized in Beirut after the army -- regarded as a neutral player -- overturned government measures against the group. May 11 - Hezbollah-led forces overrun posts held by supporters of Druze leader, Walid Jumblatt, in the Aley district east of Beirut before he agrees to hand them over to the army. May 14 - Government formally overturns measures which sparked the fighting. May 21 - Rival Lebanese leaders sign a deal to end 18 months of political conflict. The deal, concluded after Arab-mediated talks in Qatar, paves the way for parliament to elect Suleiman as president. He is sworn in on May 25. May 28 - Suleiman appoints Siniora to head a national unity government agreed under the deal. June 5 - French President Nicholas Sarkozy visits Beirut for five hours to urge leaders to seal reconciliation. June 23 - Army deploys in Tripoli, bringing calm after two days of sectarian fighting that killed nine. The fighting pits Alawites against Sunnis. July 11 - Leaders agree on unity government that gives veto power for Hezbollah-led opposition as agreed under Doha deal. July 26 - The army deploys to halt two days of heavy sectarian fighting in Tripoli which killed nine and wounded at least 68. Twenty-two people had died in the previous two months. Aug. 12 - National unity government wins a confidence vote in parliament. Aug. 13 - A bomb kills 15 people, including 10 soldiers, in Tripoli. There are no claims of responsibility. Sept. 4 - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad describes the Lebanon situation as fragile, especially in the north. He warns of Sunni Islamist militancy in Tripoli. Sept. 8 - Alawite and Sunni leaders sign a reconciliation agreement in Tripoli. Sept. 9 - President Suleiman invites rival leaders to a national dialogue beginning Sept. 16.
Major General Claudio Graziano, commander of U.N. peacekeepers in Lebanon, salutes over the coffin of a Belgian peacekeeper who was killed on Wednesday while clearing cluster bombs in south Lebanon, during ...
