1. A Timeline

2.  7th century BC - Phoenicians settle in Tripolitania in western Libya  6th century BC - Carthage conquers Tripolitania  4th century BC - Greeks colonise Cyrenaica in the east of the country  74 BC - Romans conquer Libya  643 - Arabs under Amr Ibn al-As conquer Libya and spread Islam  16th century – part of Ottoman Empire - joins the three provinces of Tripolitania, Cyrenaica and Fezzan into one regency in Tripoli.  1911-12 - Italy conquers Libya  1920s - Libyan resistance to Italian rule begins under the leadership of the Sanusi dynasty and Umar al-Mukhtar.

3.  1942 - Allies oust Italians from Libya  divided between the French - Fezzan  British - Cyrenaica and Tripolitania  1951 - Libya becomes independent under King Idris al-Sanusi  1956 - Libya grants two American oil companies a concession of some 14 million acres  1961 - King Idris opens a 104-mile pipeline  links important interior oil fields to the Mediterranean Sea  possible to export Libyan oil for the first time.

4. gaddafi_69_putsch_D_326961g.jpg  1969 - deposed King Idris in military coup  attempts to form mergers with several Arab countries  introduces state socialism  nationalises most economic activity i.e. the oil industry  1970 - Libya closes British airbase in Tobruk and the giant US Wheelus air force base in Tripoli  property belonging to Italian settlers nationalised  1971 - National referendum approves proposed Federation of Arab Republics (FAR) comprising Libya, Egypt and Syria  FAR never takes off

5.  1972 - Libya and Egypt agree on a merger that fails  1973 - Col Gaddafi declares a "cultural revolution”  formation of "people's committees" in schools, hospitals, universities, workplaces and administrative districts  Libyan forces occupy Aozou Strip in northern Chad.  1974 - Libya and Tunisia agree on a union state - the "Islamic Arab Republic" that also fails  1977 - Col Gaddafi declares a "people's revolution“  changes the country's official name from the Libyan Arab Republic to the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriyah  Sets up "revolutionary committees"  Beginning of institutionalised chaos, economic decline and general lack of consistency  1980 - Libya and Syria agree on a merger, but this too fails to materialise  Libyan troops start intervening on a large scale in civil war in northern Chad

6.  1981 - US shoots down two Libyan aircraft which challenged its warplanes  1984 - UK breaks off diplomatic relations with Libya after a British policewoman is shot dead outside the Libyan People's Bureau (embassy) in London while anti-Gaddafi protests were taking place.  1986 - US bombs Libyan military facilities, residential areas of Tripoli and Benghazi, killing 101 peopleUS bombs Libyan military facilities, residential areas of Tripoli and Benghazi, killing 101 people  also bombs Gaddafi's house, killing his adopted daughter.  raids were in response to alleged Libyan involvement in bombing of Berlin disco frequented by US military personnel.  2004 August - Libya agrees to pay $35m to compensate victims  1988 - Gaddafi orders the release of some political prisoners and embarks on limited economic liberalization  1989 - Libya, Algeria, Morocco, Mauritania and Tunisia form the Arab Maghreb Union

7.  UN imposes sanctions on Libya to force it to hand over two of its citizens suspected of involvement in the blowing up of a PanAm airliner over the Scottish town of Lockerbie in December 1988.  US accused Libya over 1988 Lockerbie bombing  1999 - Lockerbie suspects handed over for trial  UN sanctions suspended; diplomatic relations with UK restored  2001 31 January – 2 Libyans charged in Lockerbie bombing  Special Scottish court in the Netherlands  Abdelbaset Ali Mohamed al-Megrahi found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment.  Megrahi's co-accused, Al-Amin Khalifa Fahimah, is found not guilty and freed

8.  2002 14 March - al-Megrahi loses his appeal - begins a life sentence of at least 20 years  2003 August - Libya signs a compensation deal worth $2.7bn  takes responsibility for the bombing in a letter to the UN Security Council  2008 November - US Lockerbie victims' group says Libya has paid them full compensation.  Possibility of restoration of diplomatic relations with United States.  2009 August - Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi is freed from Scottish jail on compassionate groundsal-Megrahi  He returns to Libya to a hero's welcome which causes a storm of controversy

9.  1994 - Libya returns the Aozou Strip to Chad  1995 - Gaddafi expels some 30,000 Palestinians in protest at the Oslo accords between the Palestine Liberation Organisation and Israel.  2000 September - Dozens of African immigrants killed by Libyan mobs in the west of Libya - angry at the large number of African labourers coming into the country

10.  2001 May - Libyan troops help stop a coup attempt against President Ange-Felix Patasse of the Central African Republic  2002 January - Libya and the US held talks to mend relations after years of hostility over what the Americans termed Libya's sponsorship of terrorism.  2003 January - Libya is elected chairman of the UN Human Rights Commission despite opposition from the US and human rights groups.  Libya pledges to halt WMD programmes

11.  2003 September - UN Security Council votes to lift sanctions.  2003 December - Libya says will abandon programmes to develop weapons of mass destruction.  2004 January - Libya agrees to compensate families of victims of 1989 bombing of French passenger aircraft over Sahara  2004 March - British Prime Minister Tony Blair visits, the first such visit since 1943.

12.  2005 January – Libya's first auction of oil and gas exploration licences marks the return of US energy companies  2006 May - The US is restoring full diplomatic ties with Libya  Colonel Gaddafi marks the 37th anniversary of his military coup with a speech urging supporters to kill enemies trying to reverse the gains of his revolution  2007 January - Prime minister announces plan to make redundant 400,000 government workers - more than a third of the total workforce - to stimulate the private sector and ease public spending

13.  2009 September - Libya holds celebrations to mark 40 years since Colonel Muammar Gaddafi seized power  2009 December - Diplomatic row with Switzerland and European Union after Gaddafi's son held on charges of mistreating domestic workers  2008 January - Libya takes over one-month rotating presidency of the UN Security Council in a step back to respectability after decades as a pariah of the West  2008 August - Libya and US sign agreement committing each side to compensate all victims of bombing attacks on the other's citizens  Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi apologises to Libya for damage inflicted by Italy during colonial era  signs a five billion dollar compensation/investment deal

14.  2008 September - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice makes historic visit - the highest-level US visit to Libya since 1953  Ms Rice says relations between the US and Libya have entered a "new phase"  2009 February - Gaddafi elected chairman of the African Union by leaders meeting in Ethiopia.  Sets out ambition of "United States of Africa" even embracing the Caribbean  2009 June - Gaddafi pays first state visit to Italy, Libya's former colonial ruler and now its main trading partner.

15.  2010 January - Russia agrees to sell Libya weapons in a deal worth $1.8bn.  The deal is thought to include fighter jets, tanks and air defence systems.  2010 June - UN refugee agency UNHCR expelled.  2010 July - US senators push for inquiry into claims that oil giant BP lobbied for Lockerbie bomber's release.  BP confirms it is about to begin drilling off Libyan coast.  2010 October - European Union and Libya sign agreement designed to slow illegal migration.  2010 November - Group of journalists arrested in apparent power struggle within ruling elite. Gaddafi later orders them to be freed.  2010 December - US diplomatic cables published by WikiLeaks indicate that Gaddafi threatened to cut trade with Britain if Lockerbie bomber died in prison.  2011 February - Arrest of human rights campaigner sparks off violent protests in eastern city of Benghazi  Protests rapidly spread to other cities  Authorities use aircraft to attack protestors amid reports of mutinies by army units  Many Libyan diplomats resign in protest  Gaddafi insists that he will not quit, and remains in control of the capital, Tripoli.

16.  Gadhafi Timeline Gadhafi Timeline  News update - http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20110221/moammar- gadhafi-revolutionary-despot-110221 News update