4, a chemical explosion at Beirut port kills 215 people, wounds 6,000 and devastates swathes of Beirut. IMF talks flounder as ruling factions and banks object to a financial recovery plan. Lebanon defaults on its sovereign debt in March. Hassan Diab becomes prime minister in January, backed by Hezbollah and its allies. Banks largely freeze depositors out of dollar savings. In October, a decision to tax internet calls ignites mass cross-sectarian protests accusing the ruling elite of corruption and mismanagement. Hezbollah and allies win a majority in Lebanon's first parliamentary vote since 2009.ĭespite growing economic troubles, the government fails to enact reforms that might unlock foreign support. Both Riyadh and Hariri deny he was detained. Hariri had become premier again in 2016 in a deal in which Michel Aoun, a Hezbollah ally, became president. Sunni regional power Saudi Arabia, frustrated with Hezbollah's power in Lebanon, is accused of detaining Hariri in Riyadh, from where he unexpectedly resigned. In October, a car bomb kills security official Wissam al-Hassan, whose intelligence service had arrested a pro-Syrian former minister charged with transporting Syrian-assembled bombs to wage attacks in Lebanon.Ī bomb kills ex-minister and Hariri advisor Mohamad Chatah. Hezbollah fighters deploy to Syria to aid President Bashar al-Assad in the country's civil war. ![]() After mediation, rival leaders sign a deal in Qatar.Ī government led by Hariri's son and political heir, Saad, is toppled when Hezbollah and its allies quit due to disagreements over a U.N.-backed tribunal into the 2005 assassination. Hezbollah calls this a declaration of war and its fighters take over mainly Muslim west Beirut. In May, the government outlaws Hezbollah's telecom network. Hezbollah and its allies maintain a sit-in protest against the Siniora government for the entire year.Īnti-Syrian lawmakers Walid Eido and Antoine Ghanem are killed.Ī car bomb kills Wissam Eid, a police intelligence officer investigating the Hariri assassination, in January. In November, Hezbollah and its allies quit the cabinet led by Western-backed Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and organise protests against it.Īnti-Syria politician Pierre Gemayel is killed. Tensions in Lebanon simmer over Hezbollah's arsenal. At least 1,200 people in Lebanon and 158 Israelis are killed. In July, Hezbollah crosses the border into Israel, captures two Israeli soldiers and kills others, sparking a five-week war. Three critics of Syria - Samir Kassir, Gebran Tueni, and George Hawi - are assassinated. ![]() ![]() Syria's allies in Lebanon, who include the Iran-backed Hezbollah, stage rallies in support of Syria, but international pressure forces the troops out.
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