The Chronology of the Conflict

2 August: Iraqi forces invade Kuwait: Emir flees to Saudi Arabia in US helicopter

3 August: Baghdad declares its troops will start withdrawing from Kuwait unless the security of Iraq or Kuwait is threatened

5 August: Bush says Iraqi aggression 'will not stand'

6 August: Saddam reassures Joseph Wilson, US charg6 d'affaires in Bagh-dad, who in turn praises the 'professional standards' of Iraq's ministry of Foreign Affairs

8 August: The puppet 'Provisional Free Government of Kuwait' calls for a merger between Iraq and Kuwait

12 August: Saddam offers peace plan; rejected by Bush

15 August: Iraqi foreign minister, Tariq Aziz, offers talks; rejected by Bush

25 August: UN passes Resolution 665 mandating force to ensure blockade of Iraq

28 August: Saddam starts releasing hostages. King Hussein of Jordan proposes peace plan; accepted by Iraq; rejected by Bush

1 September: Libya proposes seven-point peace plan, including Iraqi withdrawal from Kuwait; rejected by Bush

5 September: Saddam calls for holy war

9 September: Bush and Gorbachev call for unconditional Iraqi withdrawal Ayatollah 12 September Khamanei condemns US presence in Gulf

19 September: King Hassan of Morocco proposes peace plan; rejected by Bush

24 September: Mitterrand of France proposes peace plan; Iraq responds positively; Bush does not

1 October: Bush says US seeks 'a peaceful outcome'

2 October: Amnesty International reports Iraqi atrocities in Kuwait

5 October: Primakov, Soviet presidential council member, after visiting Saddam, declares himself 'not pessimistic' about a political solution

8 October: Israeli police shoot dead 20 Palestinians and wound 150 at Temple Mount

13 October: Syrian troops invade East Beirut

16 October: US Secretary of State James Baker says sanctions against Iraq 'tightening with increasing severity' have a chance of working

21 October: Edward Heath meets Saddam; secures release of 38 British hostages

26 October: General Zvi Zamir's report absolves Israeli police of responsibility for Palestinian massacre (8 October)

28 October: Gorbachev, after Primakov visit to Baghdad, says Saddam is not intransigent

31 October: Bush decides to secretly double US troops in Gulf to 430 000, to start war in January, and to seek a UN mandate for this action

4 November: Baker discusses war plan with allies

9 November: Willy Brandt meets Saddam; secures release of 206 Western hostages

13 November: Peace initiative by King Hassan fails

16 November: Baker lobbies Security Council for 'force' resolution

21 November: Bush meets Emir Jaber and King Fahd in Saudi Arabia

22 November: Expert witnesses testifying before the US Senate Armed Services Committee show large majority rejecting military option

28 November: Tony Benn, British MP, meets Saddam; secures the release of 15 hostages

29 November: Britain, following fail of Thatcher, restores diplomatic relations with Syria. Resolution 678 (authorising 'all necessary means' to evict Iraq from Kuwait) is passed in the UN Security Council

30 November: Bush proposes talks with Iraq

1 December: Baghdad accepts offer of talks

4 December: Baker criticised by US Senate Foreign Relations Committee for ignoring expert testimony on sanctions

6 December: Saddam decides to release all remaining foreign hostages

9 December: US rejects Iraq's proposed date for talks between Saddam and Baker

15 December: US cancels scheduled Aziz-Baker talks

18 December: Amnesty International reports Iraqi brntalities in Kuwait

23 December: US forces in Saudi Arabia put on high state of alert for a week

30 December: Yugoslav foreign minister, Budimor Loncar, takes lxaqi proposals to Washington; State Department spokesman calls them a 'serious pre-negofiating position'; Bush rejects them

3 January: Bush agrees Aziz-Baker talks in Geneva

4 January: Iraq agrees to proposed talks

9 January: Geneva talks fail

12 January: US Congress authorises Bush to use force in Gulf (Senate vote: 53 to 47, House of Representatives: 250 to 183)

13 January: Anti-war protests throughout Europe. Saddam-de Cueliar talks fail

16 January: US-led bombing of Iraq (Operation 'Desert Storm') begins

18 January: Iraq fires twelve Scud missiles at Tel Aviv and Haifa

19 January: Air sorties against Iraq reach 4000; widespread destruction of Iraq's water, fuel and electrical supplies. Large anti-war protests in US

21 January: Iran protests at scale of US bombing

22 January: Iraq fires three Scud missiles at Tel Aviv

23 January: Air sorties against Iraq reach 12,000; war damage creates 35-mile long, 10-mile wide oil slick in Gulf

28 January: Pro-Iraq general strike in Morocco supported by government

29 January: Iraqi forces capture Saudi border town of Khafji; French defence minister Chevenement resigns in protest at scale of bombing of Iraq

1 February: Allies recapture Khafji

3 February: Allied sorties against Iraq reach 41,000. Pope Paul condemns the War

7 February: Iran proposes peace plan; no response from West. Allies claim to have destroyed 80% of Iraq's bridges

15 February: Baghdad says it is willing to withdraw from Kuwait; Soviet foreign minister welcomes the offer; Bush calls it 'a cruel hoax'

18 February: Gorbachev proposes eight-point peace plan

20 February: Allied air sorties against Iraq reach 85,000

22 February: Bush rejects Gorbachev peace plan

24 February: US-led forces launch ground offensive (Operation 'Desert Sabre')

25 February: Soviet Union proposes peace plan; Saddam orders withdrawal from Kuwait

26 February: Bush rejects new Soviet peace plan. Saddam confirms Iraqi withdrawal

27 February: Kuwaiti and Saudi troops control Kuwait City. Air sorties reach 106,000

28 February: Bush orders ceasefire. Iraq accepts cease fire terms