Feb 24 (Reuters) - Following is a timeline of events
in Syria since protests began :
March 16, 2011 - Security forces break up gathering of 150
protesters in Damascus holding pictures of imprisoned relatives.
April 19 - Government passes bill lifting 48 years of
emergency rule.
April 22 - Security forces and gunmen loyal to President
Bashar al-Assad kill at least 100 protesters, rights group says.
May 23 - European Union imposes sanctions on Assad and nine
other senior government officials.
July 31 - Syrian tanks storm Hama after a month-long siege,
killing at least 80 people, residents say.
Sept. 2 - EU imposes ban on purchases of Syrian oil.
Nov. 12 - Arab League suspends Syria.
Nov. 27 - Arab states vote to impose economic sanctions.
Nov. 30 - Turkey says it has suspended all financial credit
dealings with Syria and frozen Syrian government assets.
Dec. 7 - Assad denies ordering his troops to kill peaceful
demonstrators, telling U.S. television channel ABC that only a
"crazy" leader kills his own people.
Dec. 13 - U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights puts death
toll at more than 5,000.
Dec. 19 - Syria signs Arab League peace plan, agrees to let
monitors into the country.
Dec. 27 - Monitors say they saw "nothing frightening" during
initial visit to Homs, as 20,000 people hold protest there.
Jan. 10, 2012 - Assad says he will not stand down.
Jan. 22 - Arab League urges Assad to step down and hand over
power to a deputy, a call Syria rejects a day later.
-- Saudi Arabia quits monitoring mission, saying Syria has
done nothing to implement Arab peace plan.
Jan. 24 - The six-member Gulf Cooperation Council says it is
withdrawing its 55 monitors from the 165-strong monitoring
mission. Syria agrees to extend mission for a month.
Jan. 25 - The head of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent is shot
dead on highway.
Jan. 28 - Arab League suspends its monitoring mission in
worsening violence, Damascus criticises this as an attempt to
encourage foreign intervention.
Jan. 31 - Government forces reassert control over capital's
eastern suburbs after Free Syrian Army withdraws, capping three
days of fighting that activists say killed at least 100 people.
Feb. 4 - Russia and China veto resolution in U.N. Security
Council, backed by Arab League, calling for Assad to step down.
Feb. 6 - The United States announces it is closing its
embassy in Syria because of worsening security situation.
Feb. 7 - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov visits
Damascus, says Assad assured him he is committed to seeking an
end to violence by all sides.
Feb. 12 - The Arab League calls for a U.N.-Arab
peacekeeping force and opening of "communication channels with
the Syrian opposition".
Feb. 16 - The U.N. General Assembly approves a resolution
endorsing the Arab League plan calling for Assad to step aside.
Feb. 22 - More than 80 people are killed in Homs including
two foreign journalists. Hundreds of people have now been killed
in daily bombardments of the city by Assad's besieging forces.
Feb. 23 - Former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan appointed
U.N.-Arab League envoy to Syria. Current Secretary General Ban
Ki-Moon says he will send Annan to Syria.
Feb. 24 - Foreign ministers from more than 50 countries
attend the first meeting of the "Friends of Syria" group in
Tunis to demand Syria allows immediate access for aid to areas
under siege. The group will also commit to enforcing sanctions.
Russia and China, allies of Syria, decide not to attend.
(Reporting by David Cutler, London Editorial Reference Unit;
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