FEBRUARY15th/16th – Riot in Benghazi triggered by arrest of human-rights activist Fethi Tarbel, who has worked to free political prisoners.
17th – Activists designate a day of rage. It is anniversary of 2006 clashes in Benghazi when security forces killed protesters attacking the consulate of former colonial power Italy.
24th – Anti-Libyan government militias take control of Misrata.
26th – UN Security Council imposes sanctions on Muammar Gadafy and his family, and refers Libya’s crackdown on rebels to the International Criminal Court (ICC).
28th – EU governments approve a package of sanctions.
MARCH
5th – The National Transitional Council (NTC) meets in Benghazi and declares itself the sole representative for Libya.
10th – France recognises the NTC as the legitimate representative of Libya’s people.
16th – Forces loyal to Gadafy are near rebel-held Benghazi. Gadafy’s son Saif al-Islam
tells France-based TV channel Euronews: “Everything will be over in 48 hours.”
17th – UN Security Council votes to authorise a no-fly zone and “all necessary measures” – code for military action – to protect civilians.
19th – First air strikes halt the advance of Gadafy’s forces on Benghazi and target Libya’s air defences.
28th – Qatar becomes the first Arab country to recognise Libya’s rebels.
29th – London conference of 40 governments and organisations agrees to set up a contact group of 20 countries to co-ordinate efforts in post-Gadafy Libya.
30th – Libyan foreign minister Moussa Koussa defects.
APRIL
10th – Gadafy “accepts” road map for ending the conflict, South African president Jacob Zuma says after leading a delegation of four African leaders in Tripoli. Rebels reject plan the next day.
30th – Nato missile attack on a house in Tripoli kills Gadafy’s youngest son and three grandchildren.
MAY
30th – In first appearance in a month, Gadafy renews a ceasefire call in talks with visiting Zuma but gives no sign he will heed demands to step down.
JUNE
1st – Libya’s top oil official, Shokri Ghanem, appears in Rome, saying he defected.
8th – Western and Arab nations meet rebels in Abu Dhabi discussing what US officials call the “endgame” for Gadafy.
27th – ICC issues arrest warrants for Gadafy, his son Saif al-Islam and intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi, charged with crimes against humanity.
JULY
15th – Libya’s rebel NTC wins recognition as the legitimate government of Libya from the US.
26th – UN envoy Abdul Elah al-Khatib says after talks with Libya’s PM, the government and the rebels remain far apart.
27th – Rebels win diplomatic recognition from Britain.
28th – Abdel Fattah Younes, Gadafy’s former interior minister who defected to the rebels on February 22nd and became their military chief, is killed.
AUGUST
9th – Gadafy’s government accuses Nato of killing 85 civilians in an air strike near Zlitan, west of Misrata.
14th – Libyan rebels take the centre of Zawiyah, near Tripoli, cutting the coastal highway to Tunisia which keeps the capital supplied with food and fuel.
15th – In a barely audible phone call to state television, Gadafy calls on his followers to liberate Libya from rebels and Nato. “Get ready for the fight . . . The blood of martyrs is fuel for the battlefield,” he says.
16th – Libya’s rebels say they have completed moves to cut off roads to the capital.
20th – Explosions and gunfire rattle Tripoli after days of battlefield defeats leave Gadafy’s government and troops besieged in the capital.
21st – Rebel fighters enter Tripoli with little resistance. Gadafy makes two audio addresses over state TV calling on Libyans to fight off the rebels “rats”, and saying he is in the capital and will be “with you until the end”. Rebels reach Green Square and rename it Martyrs Square.
22nd – Rebels say they have detained two of Gadafy’s sons, Saif al-Islam and Muhammad al-Gadafy.