February 14, 2005 – Former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, an opponent of Syria's occupation of Lebanon, is killed in a bomb attack targeting his motorcade in Beirut. Twenty-two other people also die. Lebanon's pro-Western opposition accuses Syria and its allies in the Lebanese security services. The bombing triggers anti-Syria street protests, known as the “Cedar Revolution.”

April, 2005 – Syria withdraws its troops from Lebanon after a 29-year occupation.

April 7, 2005 – U.N. Security Council resolution establishes an International Independent Investigation Commission (UNIIIC) to help Lebanese authorities investigate the bombing.

August 30, 2005 – Lebanon arrests four senior Lebanese intelligence and security officers in connection with the Hariri assassination.

October 19, 2005 – Chief U.N. investigator Detlev Mehlis submits report to the Security Council saying evidence implicates senior Lebanese and Syrian intelligence figures..

June 15, 2006 – U.N. Security Council renews and expands commission mandate to include investigations into assassinations of other Lebanese politicians, journalists and security officials.

May 30, 2007 – U.N. Security Council adopts resolution authorizing creation of an international tribunal to try suspects in the Hariri assassination. Tribunal is established on June 10, 2007.

March 1, 2009 – Tribunal holds its first session in The Hague. Judges' names are kept secret for security reasons.

April 29, 2009 – Tribunal orders Lebanon to release four Lebanese security officials held without charge. The judges cite insufficient evidence.

June 8, 2009 – Lebanon's anti-Syrian parliamentary majority declared winner of parliamentary election. Rafik Hariri's son, Saad, is named prime minister-designate on June 27.

November 9, 2009 – Saad Hariri forms national unity government in which pro-Syrian militant group Hezbollah has two ministers in the 30-member Cabinet.

July 22, 2010 – Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah says Prime Minister Hariri informs him that the Tribunal plans to indict Hezbollah members.

August 9, 2010 – Nasrallah accuses Israel of carrying out the Hariri killing. Israeli officials dismiss the accusation.

October 28, 2010 – Nasrallah urges all Lebanese to boycott the Tribunal.

January 12, 2011 – Hezbollah and its allies resign from Saad Hariri's Cabinet in protest at the Tribunal's investigation, causing the Lebanese government to collapse.

January 25, 2011 – Lebanese President Michel Suleiman appoints Hezbollah-backed candidate Najib Mikati as prime minister-designate.

June 13, 2011 – Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati forms a new Cabinet in which parliament's Hezbollah-led bloc holds the majority of the 30 seats.

June 30, 2011 – Lebanese media say the Tribunal issues four arrest warrants and a sealed indictment in the Hariri case to Lebanon's prosecutor general. The reports say at least two of the warrants are for Hezbollah members.