18 Jun 11
Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh underwent treatment at a hospital in Saudi Arabia after being wounded during an attack on his compound on June 3rd. He may not return to Yemen. Fighting and strife continued in many parts of the country.
Protests against Syria’s government continued and intensified. According to the regime, “armed gangs” in Jisr al-Shughour killed 120 members of security forces, though these claims could not be verified. At least 70 protesters were killed in Hama.
Tunisia’s interim government postponed the country’s first election since the January revolution to October 23rd, citing technical reasons.
Hundreds of Palestinians living in Syria tried to breach the Israeli border on the Golan heights. At least eight were killed.
04 Jun 11
Civil war looms in Yemen as at least 80 people were killed in clashes between tribal fighters and security forces in Sana’a and Taiz. Jihadists captured Zinjibar, a coastal town east of Aden.
Turmoil in Syria continued, with at least 42 people being killed since May 27th.
Bahrain lifted a state of emergency, which was in place for two-and-half months, with the help of Saudi and Emirati forces.
Five generals were among the 120 soliders who defected from Colonel Qaddafi’s regime in Libya.
29 May 11
US president Barack Obama in a speech celebrated the Arab Spring and promised financial aid to those transition countries seeking to build a democracy. But he annoyed Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu by stating that Israel’s border with Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines with swaps.
NATO ramped up its air attacks on Tripoli, capital of Libya, and deployed Apache attack helicopters.
Prosecutors in Egypt announced that former president Hosni Mubarak and his two sons would be tried on a series of chargers including murder.
Scores of Yemenis were killed in clashes with security forces as President Ali Abdullah Saleh continued to reject a deal which would require him to leave office within 30 days.
21 May 11
At least 14 Palestinians were shot when they sought to cross Israel’s border with Lebanon, Syria, the West Bank and Gaza. The demonstrators were marking the day of naqba, the term Palestinians use for Israel’s birth in 1948.
Shokri Ghanem, oil minister of Libya, was reported to have defected. He is the highest-ranking official to abandon Colonel Qaddafi since the foreign minister fled in March.
Yemen’s government and an opposition coalition came close to striking a deal that would end the three-month long crisis. Under the plan, brokered by the GCC, President Saleh would step down within 30 days and a unity government would be formed.
Nabil el-Araby, Egypt’s foreign minister, was elected secretary-general of the Arab League, thereby replacing his fellow countryman Amr Moussa.
17 May 11
The Syrian government held talks with several veteran dissidents, while security forces continued to fire on protesters in Homs, Syria’s third-most-populous city. Scores of protesters were killed. Protests ensued in Aleppo as well.
Libyan rebels strengthened their grip on Misrata, reportedly capturing the airport. Misrata is the city closest to the capital Tripoli.
17 May 11
Syria’s government continued it’s crackdown on protests resulting in scores of deaths. More than 450 people are reported to have died since the protests started six weeks ago. There were calls from the international community to impose sanctions on Bashar Al-Assad’s regime.
Former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak was ordered to be moved from a hospital in Sharm el-Sheikh to a military medical facility, before being taken to a prison hospital in Cairo. Mubarak and his two sons seem likely to be tried to corruption and ordering troops to fire on demonstrators shortly before his regime fell.
A deal brokered by the Gulf Cooperation Council proposed that Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh step down. Opposition parties have agreed to the deal, though pro-democracy protesters are not pleased that Mr. Saleh is to be granted immunity from prosecution.
Mahmoud Abbas’s secular Fatah party, which runs the West Bank, and the Islamist movement Hamas which controls the Gaza Strip, agreed to be reconciled following a bitter five-year quarrel. Under the agreement, the Palestinian factions say they will form a unity government and fix a date for elections.
The battle for Misrata, the only remaining rebel enclave in western Libya, continued. Colonel Qaddafi’s forces withdrew from the city but the rebels came under heavy fire from the leader’s artillery outside.
09 May 11
Osama bin Laden was killed in a raid by US Navy SEALS in Abbottabad, Pakistan. His body was buried at sea to prevent jihadists from creating a shrine. Bin Laden was tracked down after a decade-long manhunt and found to be living a comfortable life in a villa in an urban area, nearby a military base.
Fatah and Hamas, the two biggest Palestinian parties, signed an agreement to back a government of national unity.
The government of Syria continued to crack down on protesters and political opponents. Tanks were sent into restive cities across the country. The total death tally now stands at more than 600 since the protests began.
Saif Al-Arab, one of Colonel Qaddafi’s sons, was killed in a NATO airstrike in the Libyan capital Tripoli.
25 Apr 11
A coalition of mainly Western forces continued to bomb pro-government military targets in Libya as Colonel Qaddafi’s intensified their siege of Misrata – the closest city to Tripoli that is in rebel hands. US president Barack Obama was urged by the rebels and many in the west to provide more aircraft that can attack targets with more precision.
Protests continued in Syria where the government blamed the rising violence on an “armed insurrection” by extreme Islamists. Security forces opened fire on anti-government protesters in Homs, killing 15 people. President Bashar Al-Assad lifted the decades-long emergency law and promised to free political prisoners.
25 Apr 11
British and French governments criticised NATO for failing to destroy enough heavy weaponry used by Colonel Muamaar Qaddafi’s forces in Libya to enable rebels to break an ongoing stalemate.
Syria witnessed continued demonstrations with a government cracking down hard, arresting 100 people in a single day.
Egypt’s former president Hosni Mubarak was detained for up to 15 days for questioning about charges of corruption and abuse of office.
09 Apr 11
Fighting continued in Libya between Qaddafi’s forces and those rebelling against him. NATO took over control of the anti-Qaddafi coalition from the Americans, and continued assaults on the Libyan government’s ground forces from the air.
Yemen’s president Ali Abdullah Saleh struggled to remain in power amidst growing demonstrations in the capital and unrest across the country.