Mali+Timeline


 * __ Timeline __**

14th-15th centuries ** - Decline of the Empire of Mali, which loses dominance of the gold trade to the Songhai Empire, which makes its base in Timbuktu - historically important as a focal point of Islamic culture and a trading post on the trans-Saharan caravan route. Late 16th century ** - Moroccans defeat the Songhai, make Timbuktu their capital and rule until their decline in the 18th century. 19th century ** - French colonial advance, and Islamic religious wars which lead to creation of theocratic states.  1959 ** - Mali and Senegal form the Mali Federation, which splits a year later.  1968 ** - Keita ousted in coup led by Lieutenant Moussa Traore. 1977 ** - Protests erupt following Keita's death in prison. 1979 ** - New constitution provides for elections; Traore re-elected president. 1985 ** - Mali and Burkina Faso engage in border fighting. 1991 ** - Traore deposed in coup and replaced by transitional committee. -Democracy- ** 1992 ** - Alpha Konare wins multiparty elections to become Mali's first democratically-elected president. 1995 ** - Peace agreement with Tuareg tribes leads to return of thousands of refugees. 1999 ** - Former President Moussa Traore sentenced to death on corruption charges, but has his sentence commuted to life imprisonment by President Konare. 1999 **October - Several people killed in fighting in the north between members of the Kunta tribe and an Arab community over local disputes. 2000 **<span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #464646; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">February - Konare appoints former International Monetary Fund official Mande Sidibe prime minister. 2001 **<span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #464646; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">December - Manantali dam in southwest produces its first megawatt of hydro-electricity, 13 years after it was completed. 2002 **<span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #464646; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"> April - Amadou Toumani Toure elected president by landslide. Poll is marred by allegations of fraud. 2002 **<span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #464646; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"> September - France says it will cancel 40% of debts owed to it by Mali, amounting to some 80m euros ($79m, £51m). 2002 **<span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #464646; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"> October - Government resigns, without public explanation. New "government of national unity" is unveiled. 2003 **<span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #464646; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"> August - Clashes between rival Muslim groups in west kill at least 10 people. Fourteen Europeans, kidnapped in Algeria in 2003, are freed in Mali after negotiations with militant captors. 2004 **<span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #464646; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"> September - Agriculture minister says severe locust plague has cut cereal harvest by up to 45%. 2005 **<span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #464646; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"> June - World Food Programme warns of severe food shortages, the result of drought and locust infestations in 2004. 2006 **<span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #464646; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"> May - Visiting French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy faces a hostile reception from protesters accusing him of racism over the tough immigration bill he introduced in parliament. 2006 **<span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #464646; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"> June - The government signs an Algerian-brokered peace deal with Tuareg rebels seeking greater autonomy for their northern desert region. The rebels looted weapons in the town of Kidal in May, raising fears of a new rebellion. 2007 **<span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #464646; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"> April - President Toure wins a second five-year term in elections. 2007 **<span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #464646; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"> June - Five journalists and a teacher are convicted for insulting President Toure over a high school essay assignment on the sexual indiscretions of an imaginary head of state. 2007 **<span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #464646; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"> July - The ruling coalition, Alliance for Democracy and Progress (ADP), strengthens its hold on parliament in elections. 2008 **<span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #464646; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"> May - Tuareg rebels kill 17 soldiers in attack on an army post in the northeast, despite a ceasefire agreed a month earlier. 2008 **<span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #464646; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">December - At least 20 people are killed and several taken hostage in an attack by Tuareg rebels on a military base in northern Mali. 2009 **<span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #464646; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">February - Government says the army has taken control of all the bases of the most active Tuareg rebel group. A week later, 700 rebels surrender their weapons in ceremony marking their return to the peace process.
 * <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #464646; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">11th century **<span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #464646; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"> - Empire of Mali becomes dominant force in the upper Niger basin, its period of greatness beginning under King Sundiata in 1235 and peaking under Mansa Musa who ruled between 1312 and 1337 and extended empire to the Atlantic.
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 * <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #464646; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">1898 **<span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #464646; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"> - France completes conquest of Mali, then called French Sudan.
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 * <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #464646; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">-Independence- **
 * <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #464646; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">1960 **<span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #464646; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"> - Mali becomes independent with Modibo Keita as president. It becomes a one-party, socialist state and withdraws from the Franc zone.
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 * <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #464646; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Amadou Toure **<span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #464646; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">
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 * <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #464646; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">2004 **<span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #464646; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">April - Prime Minister Mohamed Ag Amani resigns and is replaced by Ousmane Issoufi Maiga.
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 * <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #464646; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">-Rebel activity- **
 * <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #464646; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">2007 **<span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #464646; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"> August - Suspected Tuareg rebels abduct government soldiers in separate incidents near the Niger and Algerian borders.
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