CHRONOLOGY-Iraq's path from invasion to bloodshed
Source: Reuters
BAGHDAD, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Six car bombs killed 160 people in a Shi'ite stronghold on Thursday in the bloodiest attack in Baghdad since the U.S. invasion and the authorities imposed an indefinite curfew on a city fearful of a sectarian civil war. Here is a short chronology of major events since the U.S. invasion in March 2003: April 9, 2003 - Just weeks after U.S. and British forces invade from Kuwait, U.S. troops sweep into central Baghdad as Saddam Hussein's three-decade rule crumbles into chaos and looting. July 13 - The Iraqi Governing Council -- 25 Iraqis chosen under U.S. supervision -- holds inaugural meeting in Baghdad. Aug 19 - A truck bomb wrecks U.N. headquarters in Baghdad, killing 22 people, including U.N. envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello. Dec 13 - U.S. troops seize Saddam near Tikrit. U.S. governor Paul Bremer breaks news to media next day with: "We got him." March 2, 2004 - 171 people are killed in twin attacks in Baghdad and Kerbala. March 8 - Governing Council signs interim constitution. May 17 - Suicide car bomber kills Governing Council head. June 1 - Governing Council dissolved to make way for interim government led by Iyad Allawi. Ghazi al-Yawar named president. June 28 - United States formally returns sovereignty to Prime Minister Allawi's government two days ahead of schedule. Coalition Provisional Authority dissolved. Bremer leaves Iraq. Jan 30, 2005 - First free election in half a century is won by Shi'ite-led coalition. Most Sunnis fail to vote. March 16 - Iraq's National Assembly holds its first meeting and on April 6 elects Kurd Jalal Talabani as president. Later the assembly approves a cabinet led by Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari of the Shi'ite Islamist Dawa party. July 5 - First meeting of parliamentary committee drafting constitution after addition of 15 more Sunni Arabs from outside the Assembly, offsetting effect of low Sunni turnout on Jan. 30. Aug 22 - Minutes before an already delayed midnight deadline drafting committee presents constitution to parliament. Despite Sunni objections and further talks it is adopted on Aug. 28, although efforts to appease Sunnis go on for many more weeks. Oct 15 - Referendum ratifies constitution by 78 percent despite Sunni Arab opposition which nearly vetoes it. Oct 19 - Saddam Hussein goes on trial. Dec 15 - Parliamentary election. Sunnis vote in strength. Feb 10, 2006 - Final results give Shi'ite Alliance near majority with 128 seats. Sunnis have 58 and Kurds 53. Feb 22 - Destruction of Shi'ite shrine in Samarra sparks sectarian violence, killing hundreds, raising civil war fears. March 16 - Parliament meets but fails to elect speaker amid dispute over Jaafari's attempts to stay as prime minister. April 7 - Talabani re-elected president by parliament. April 22 - As Jaafari finally steps aside, Talabani asks Jaafari's Dawa ally Nuri al-Maliki to form a government. May 20 - Parliament backs Maliki's unity government. June 7 - U.S. aircraft kill al Qaeda leader in Iraq Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Nov 5 - Saddam Hussein is sentenced to death by an Iraqi court. Nov 23 - Six car bombs kill 160 people in a Shi'ite stronghold in Baghdad, one of the most devastating attacks since the U.S. invasion.
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