COTE D'IVOIRE: Chronology since the 2002 military uprising

13 September 2007 - National Electoral Commission announces that long-overdue presidential elections could be held in October 2008 but the final decision remains with the government.

30 July 2007 - President Laurent Gbagbo travels to central town of Bouaké, stronghold of the former rebels, in his first visit to rebel territory since the rebellion began. Officials burn a pile of arms in a ceremony, declaring “the war in Côte d’Ivoire is over”.

16 July 2007 - UN Security Council adopts resolution 1765, which renews the UN Operation in Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI) mandate until 15 January 2008 to support elections and the full implementation of the Ouagadougou agreement. It terminates the mandate of the UN’s High Representative for Elections.

29 June 2007 - Prime Minister Guillaume Soro's aircraft comes under attack in the northern Ivorian city of Bouaké, the headquarters of his former rebel group. Four people are killed and a number injured from the attack but Prime Minister Soro emerges unhurt. The UN mission in Côte d’Ivoire subsequently endorsed the Prime Minister's call for an independent international inquiry into the incident.

18-19 June 2007 - A Security Council mission visits Côte d'Ivoire to assess the progress of the peace process in the country and to exchange views with the various parties to the conflict on how to move forward the peace process.

17 May 2007 - Government militias start to disarm.

11 April 2007 - A quadripartite agreement to eliminate the buffer zone known as the zone of confidence is signed by the Defence and Security Forces of Côte d'Ivoire (FDS-CI), the Armed Forces of the Forces nouvelles (FAFN), the commanders of the UN Operation in Côte d'Ivoire and the French Licorne forces.

4 March 2007 - President Gbagbo and the rebel leader Soro sign the Ouagadougou peace agreement under the aegis of Burkina Faso President Blaise Compaoré. The pact sets a new timetable for organising elections in Côte d'Ivoire and reuniting the country.

31 October 2006 - Presidential elections are cancelled.

17 October 2006 - The African Union Peace and UN Security Council extend President Gbagbo's mandate by one year, during which time the roadmap is to be fully implemented. President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa is replaced by the African Union Chairman as mediator.

12 July 2006 - The president’s party (FPI, Front populaire ivoirien) calls for a boycott of the voter identification hearings which sparked bloody demonstrations by the Young Patriots (a militia close to President Gbagbo) who blockaded various cities to prevent the identification process.

4 December 2005 - Charles Konan Banny, the governor of the Central Bank of West Africa States, is appointed interim prime minister by mediators.

8 November 2005 - The first meeting of the newly established International Working Group (see 21 October 2005) is held.

31 October 2005 - Presidential elections are cancelled.

21 October 2005 - Security Council adopts resolution 1633, endorsing the previous African Union decision, extending President Gbagbo's term by one year, deciding that a new prime minister acceptable to all parties and with executive powers should be designated; establishing a roadmap for disarmament, identification and organisation of elections supervised by an International Working Group responsible for the evaluation and monitoring of the peace process; and strengthening the threat of sanctions against individual spoilers.

29 June 2005 - The Declaration on the Implementation of the Pretoria Agreement (signed on 11 April) on the peace process in Côte d'Ivoire was signed in Pretoria under the auspices of the African Union.

15 November 2004 - Security Council adopts resolution 1572, which imposed an arms embargo as well as sanctions restricting travel and freezing assets of all persons designated by the Sanctions Committee who posed a threat to the peace process.

6 November 2004 - The national armed forces of Côte d'Ivoire attacked the French Licorne forces. The Council condemned the attacks and confirmed that French forces and the UN Operation in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI) were authorised to use all necessary means to fully carry out their mandate.

30 July 2004 - Accra III Agreement, which consolidated the implementation of the Linas-Marcoussis Agreement (see 24 January 2003), is signed.

27 February 2004 - Security Council adopts resolution 1528 establishing UN Operation in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI). The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) forces and the UN Mission in Côte d'Ivoire's (MINUCI) authority transferred to the new mission.

13 May 2003 - Security Council adopts resolution 1479 establishing the UN Mission in Côte d'Ivoire (MINUCI) with a mandate to facilitate the implementation of the Linas-Marcoussis Agreement and of the ceasefire.

March 2003 - A government of national reconciliation is formed with members from the rebel ranks and a consensus prime minister, Seydou Diarra.

24 January 2003 - The French sponsored Linas-Marcoussis Agreement is signed between the Ivorian government and all political forces.

19 September 2002 - A mutiny in Abidjan by army officers protesting their demobilisation grows into a full-scale rebellion. The rebels seize control of the north.

Source (for timeline up to 16 July 2007): Excerpted from a chronology by the non-profit organisation, Security Council Report - http://www.securitycouncilreport.org