A litany of terror

2001

Sept. 11: Nineteen members of al-Qaeda hijack four jetliners and crash three into the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon, killing more than 3,000 people.

Sept. 13: Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda organization named as prime suspect in attacks.

Sept. 19: U.S. forces begin deployment to Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, the Persian Gulf and Diego Garcia.

Sept. 25: President George W. Bush supports Russia's claims that Chechen separatists are related to al-Qaeda network.

Oct. 7: United States begins air strikes on Afghanistan.

Oct. 17: United States expands aid to Pakistan to $100-million in exchange for co-operation in war.

Nov. 10: Mr. Bush declares a global war against terrorism in address to United Nations General Assembly, says "every nation has a stake in this cause."

Dec. 2: Osama bin Laden believed to have escaped to Pakistan.

Dec. 11: United States confirms that 100 Special Forces soldiers are in Somalia fighting terrorism.

Dec. 22: Richard Reid, an Englishman later found to have ties to an al-Qaeda cell, tries to ignite explosives in his shoe on a flight from Paris to Miami. He is arrested. Meanwhile, Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld announces plans to transport terror suspects to U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and Mohammed Karzai becomes new Afghan leader.

2002

Jan. 7: Singapore announces that 15 arrested suspects with possible links to al-Qaeda had plans to blow up "very high-significance targets, embassies, some of our military bases."

Jan. 16: U.S. troops arrive in the southern Philippines to establish a counter-terrorism training camp for Filipino soldiers.

Jan. 29: Mr. Bush brands Iraq, along with Iran and North Korea, part of an "axis of evil" armed with weapons of mass destruction and supporting terrorism.

Jan. 31Journalist Daniel Pearl is kidnapped in Karachi, Pakistan, by a group demanding release of Guantanamo detainees.

Feb. 4: Mr. Bush's budget proposes to increase defence spending by $48-billion.

Feb. 15: United States agrees to deploy Special Forces in Yemen to hunt down terror suspects.

Feb. 22: Pakistani authorities announce that Mr. Pearl has been killed.

Feb. 27: United States sends troops and weapons, including 10 attack helicopters, to Republic of Georgia to train and aid local forces in fighting Islamic terrorism.

March 21: A car bomb explodes outside the U.S. embassy in Lima, killing nine people. Peruvian Interior Minister Fernando Rospigliosi says, "There's no doubt this is connected to the events of Sept. 11 and the presence of President Bush."

March 30: Pakistani authorities, aided by CIA and FBI agents, capture 35 terror suspects during a raid in Faisalabad and Lahore, including Abu Zubaida, a top al-Qaeda official.

April 11: Al-Qaeda -linked agents attack a synagogue in Tunisia, killing 15 and injuring 20.

April 12: An Ethiopian court sentences five members of al-Itihad al-Islamiya, a Somali fundamentalist Islamic group believed linked to al-Qaeda, to death for bombing attacks that killed 27 civilians in the past decade.

May 1: U.S. troops arrive in Georgia to begin training local forces in anti-terrorism tactics, with a budget of $64-million.

May 21: The State Department's annual report identifies Iraq, Iran, North Korea, Libya, Cuba, Sudan and Syria as governments that continue to support international terrorist groups.

June 10: U.S. officials reveal that Moroccan police have arrested three men from Saudi Arabia who allegedly planned to attack U.S. and British warships in the Strait of Gibraltar.

June: Senior al-Qaeda leader Omar al-Faruq is arrested by CIA in Jakarta. Under interrogation, he reveals plot to blow up U.S. embassies in Asia.

June 13: A car bomb explodes outside the U.S. consulate in Karachi, killing 12 people and injuring 51 others.

June 28: Mr. Bush authorizes $10-million in emergency military assistance for the Philippine government to fight the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group.

Sept. 7: UN Human Rights Chief Mary Robinson accuses some national governments of hiding behind the war against terrorism to impinge upon civil liberties and crush opposition parties.

Sept. 13: U.S. officials arrest Yemeni members of an alleged al-Qaeda cell in Lackawanna, N.Y.

Sept. 15: U.S. steps up Special Forces activities in Yemen as more al-Qaeda suspects are found there.

Sept. 18: Control over war on terrorism shifted to U.S. Special Operations Command in Tampa, Fla., signalling a move to more covert forms of warfare around the world.

Sept. 19: Islamic nationalist groups in five southeastern Asian nations are said to have joined forces in a coalition linked to al-Qaeda.

Oct. 12: Nightclub bombing and other attacks in Bali, Indonesia, kill more than 200 people. Jemaah Islamiyah, an al-Qaeda -linked group, is believed responsible.

Nov. 2: A missile fired by a U.S. Predator drone over Yemen kills at least one senior al-Qaeda official riding in a vehicle. It is the first overt military action outside Afghanistan.

Nov. 28: Sudan's al Islamiya, which claims al-Qaeda links, bombs Israeli targets in Kenya, killing 13.

2003

Jan. 14: In London, a group of young Algerians affiliated with al-Qaeda are arrested and found in possession of the poison Ricin.

Feb. 1: CIA and FBI officials deny any terrorist links to Iraq, in contradiction of White House claims.

Feb. 7: Nightclub in Bogota is bombed, an act the Colombian government links to Islamic terrorism. Officials use this to request U.S. funding for anti-terror efforts.

Feb. 9: Saudi leaders say they are planning for an era without a U.S. military presence in their country, to begin soon.

Feb. 21: United States plans to send 1,700 troops to Philippines to fight Islamic rebels in south.

March 2: Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, believed to be the master planner of the Sept. 11 attacks, is arrested in Pakistan.

March 3: American anti-terrorist military mission in Philippines suspended because of laws banning foreign troops.

March 4: Bombing in southern Philippines kills 21. Islamic separatist group blamed.

March 7: Five people arrested in Spain on suspicion of having financed April, 2002, synagogue attack in Tunisia.

March 19: United States launches war against Iraq.

April 2: Bomb in southern Philippines kills at least 15. Philippine authorities blame al-Qaeda-linked Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

April 15: Indonesian prosecutors indict radical cleric Abu Bakar Bashir on charges of treason and plotting to overthrow government and establish Islamic state.

April 29: United States will withdraw all combat forces from Saudi Arabia by this summer, ending military presence that began in 1991. Forces will be relocated around Africa.

May 1: Mr. Bush declares that the military phase of the Iraq war has ended.

May 12: A series of car bombings against American targets in Saudi Arabia carried out by an al-Qaeda team kills 30.

May 13: Russian Premier Vladimir Putin says bombing in Chechnya that killed 55 is an al-Qaeda operation run in parallel with Saudi bombings.

May 16: Five targets in Morocco are hit by suicide bombers believed tied to al-Qaeda.

July 4: Pentagon announces agreements with Sahara nations to build terror-fighting military bases in Mali, Mauritania, Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia.

Aug. 6: Bombing of Marriott hotel in Indonesia kills at least 10 people.

Aug. 14: Riduan Isamuddin, 39, an Indonesian better known as Hambali, believed to be the top al-Qaeda official in Southeast Asia, is arrested in Jakarta.

Aug. 19: UN headquarters in Baghdad bombed by unknown groups.

Aug. 25: Saudi Arabia agrees to work with United States on anti-terrorism task force for first time.

Sept. 2: Leader of Jemaah Islamiyah acquitted by Indonesian judge on most charges related to Bali blast.

Where the action is 

What the United States is doing, and where, in its secretive war on terror:

Southeast Asia: Setting up bases in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, shifting troops away from their old base in Japanese islands. Mission: To combat Islamist groups linked to al-Qaeda, such as Jemaah Islamiyah.

The Philippines: Heavy Special Forces and CIA presence in the south, preparing to send in thousands of additional troops to help Manila combat Islamic opposition and terror groups.

Central Asia: Remote steppe nations ruled by dubious governments, such as Uzbekistan, have provided airstrips and intelligence in exchange for aid and arms, and are home to Islamic groups tied to the Taliban and al-Qaeda.

Horn of Africa: A major installation in tiny Djibouti allows the United States to operate on a permanent basis in Sudan, Ethiopia, Yemen, Kenya, Tanzania, Somalia.

Chechnya and Georgia: Military assistance and weapons are being provided to Russia, which claims the former Soviet republics have rebel movements tied to al-Qaeda.

Sahara: Suspicion that al-Qaeda may have sought refuge along ancient desert trade routes when driven out of north Africa has prompted military aid and support to Mauritania, Mali, Niger and Chad, perhaps sites of future bases.

South America: Thousands of Saudi expats live in the remote jungle "tri-border region" between Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina, where al-Qaeda is rumoured to have training camps and to be receiving financial support from locals. U.S. covert forces now in the area, and eyeing Arabs living on Margarita Island, the tourist hot spot in Venezuela.

Pakistan and Afghanistan: Still a major military focus, with al-Qaeda and Taliban forces active in mountainous regions between the two countries. Considerable financial and military aid goes to Pakistan, even though elements in its military appear to back Islamists.

Iraq: Intelligence officials never believed there were any substantial links between Saddam Hussein's Baathist regime and al-Qaeda (which once declared it an enemy). But now a terrorist presence seems to have emerged, fuelled by foreign mujahedeen who have entered the country just to fight Americans.