Timeline: Syrian protests and crackdown

>March 16 - Security forces break up a gathering in Marjeh Square in Damascus of 150 protesters holding pictures of imprisoned relatives. Witnesses say 30 people are arrested.March 24 - President Bashar al-Assad orders the formation of a committee to raise living standards and study lifting the law covering emergency rule, in place for 48 years.March 29 - Government resigns.April 3 - Assad asks Adel Safar, a former agriculture minister to form a new government.April 8 - Demonstrators protest across Syria; 22 people killed in Deraa, according to security sources.April 9 - A Syrian rights group accuses security forces of committing a crime against humanity by killing 37 people duringFriday's nationwide demonstrations.April 14 - Assad unveils a new cabinet and orders the release of detainees arrested during a month of protests.April 19 - Government passes bill lifting emergency rule. Assad ratifies the law ending emergency rule two days later.April 22 - Security forces and gunmen loyal to Assad kill atleast 100 protesters, a rights group says.April 23 - Security forces fire on mourners calling for theend of Assad's rule at mass funerals of pro-democracy protesters shot a day earlier, killing at least 12 people.April 25 - Troops and tanks pour into Deraa, killing 20.April 29 - The United States imposes new sanctions on Syrian figures including Assad's cousin Atif Najib and his brother Maher, who commands the army division which stormed Deraa.May 10 - EU sanctions come into effect on up to 13 Syrian officials for their part in the crackdown.May 23 - The EU adds Assad and nine other senior members of the government to a list of those already sanctioned.June 3 - Security forces kill 63 at least protesters around Syria, human rights group says, including 53 in Hama.June 4 - In the town of Jisr al-Shughour, between the coastal city of Latakia and Aleppo, at least 120 members of thesecurity forces are killed, state television says.June 12 - Armed forces take control of Jisr al-Shughour as thousands of residents flee to Turkey.June 17 - Syrian tycoon Rami Makhlouf, a cousin of the president and a focus of protests, says he is quitting business.June 18 - Armed forces storm the town of Bdama, a town which has been providing food to thousands of Syrians who have escaped from frontier villages but stayed in Syria.June 20 - In his third speech since protests began, Assad pledges to pursue a national dialogue on reform.June 27 - Syrian intellectuals call for sweeping political change at a rare conference allowed by the authorities. The government also announces it will invite opposition figures to July 10 talks for a dialogue promised by Assad.June 29 - The U.S. Treasury Department says it is imposing sanctions against Syria's security forces for human rights abuses and against Iran for supporting Syria.July 1 - Syrian forces kill 24 civilians, a rights lawyer says, as at least 150,000 people rally to demand Assad's downfall.July 2 - Assad sacks the governor of Hama province.July 3 - Syrian tanks deploy around Hama, activists say.July 8 - Thousands rally in Hama calling for Assad's downfall, as U.S.

"ambassador Robert Ford and French ambassador Eric Chevallier visit the city to show support for protesters.-- The week's crackdown has killed at least 26 people in Hama, activists say"ambassador Robert Ford and French ambassador Eric Chevallier visit the city to show support for protesters.-- The week's crackdown has killed at least 26 people in Hama, activists say. They say at least 1,400 civilians nationwide have been killed in the unrest. Authorities say 500 police and soldiers have been killed by "armed groups."July 10 -- The main opposition groups boycott talks with the government and say they will not negotiate till Assad stops the violent crackdown and frees thousands of political prisoners.-- Syria summons the ambassadors of the United States and France to object to their visit to Hama without clearance.July 11 - Embassy guards fire live ammunition to prevent a crowd from storming France's main diplomatic mission in Syria, in what the foreign ministry describes as a "blatant" violation of international laws. The U.S. embassy is also attacked.

Assad has lost legitimacy and is "not indispensable," U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says.July 12 - U.N. Security Council condemns "in the strongest terms" attacks on the U.S. and French embassies in Damascus.July 15 - Syrian forces kill at least 32 civilians including 23 in Damascus at first big demonstrations in main districts of the capital, activists say.July 16 - Syria's fractured opposition, meeting in Turkey, elects National Salvation Council to present united challenge to Assad.July 16-17 - Thirty people are killed in Homs in a weekend of clashes between members of minority Alawite sect, who dominate the security apparatus, and majority Sunnis.July 20 - Loyalist troops surround a Damascus suburb, while troops and militiamen step up assaults on residential neighborhoods in Homs.July 29 - Fighting erupts between Syrian military intelligence agents and residents of the eastern city of Deir al-Zor after the killing of five protesters, in what appears to be a serious armed challenge to Assad. Human rights group says Syrian forces shoot dead at least 20 civilians across the country on 17th consecutive Friday of protests.July 31 - Syrian tanks storm Hama, residents say, after besieging it for nearly a month.(Compiled by David Cutler and Mark Trevelyan; Editing by Alex Richardson) World Syria.