Following is a timeline of events in Syria since protests began:

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 study how to raise living standards and lift 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, another 15 elsewhere, rights group says.

April 14: Assad presents a new cabinet and orders the release of detainees arrested during a month of protests.

April 19: Government passes bill lifting emergency rule.

April 22: Security forces and gunmen loyal to Assad kill at least 100 protesters, a rights group says.

May 23: European Union imposes sanctions on Assad and nine other senior members of the government.

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.

July 8: Thousands rally in Hama calling for Assad to go; U.S. Ambassador Robert Ford and French Ambassador Eric Chevallier visit the city to show support for protesters.

July 10: Opposition groups boycott talks with the government and will not negotiate until Assad ends crackdown.

July 31: Syrian tanks storm Hama, residents say, after besieging it for nearly a month. At least 80 people are killed.

Aug. 7: Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah recalls his ambassador from Syria. Kuwait recalls its envoy the next day.

Aug. 18: U.S. President Barack Obama for the first time calls on Assad to step down.

Aug. 21: Assad says he expects parliamentary elections in February 2012 after reforms that will let groups other than his Baath party take part.

Sept. 2: The European Union imposes a ban on purchases of Syrian oil and warns of further steps unless crackdown ends.

Sept. 10: Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby says he has agreed a series of measures with Assad to help end violence.
Sept. 15: Syrian opposition activists announce members of a Syrian National Council to provide an alternative to government

Oct. 2: Syria's main opposition groups call on the international community to take action to protect peaceful protesters, in a statement from the Syrian National Council.

Oct. 4: Russia and China veto a European-drafted U.N. Security Council resolution condemning Syria.

Oct. 7: Syria says a national investigation is under way into killings, including those of 1,100 security forces.

Oct. 24: The United States pulls its ambassador out of Syria because of threats to his safety.

Oct. 26: The city of Homs goes on strike to protest against the intensifying military crackdown.

Oct. 31: NATO rules out the possibility of intervention in Syria but says Damascus should draw lessons from Libya.

Nov. 2: Syria agrees to an Arab League plan to withdraw its army from cities, free political prisoners and hold talks with the opposition. The next day activists say security forces killed 11 people in Homs.

Nov. 8: More than 3,500 people have been killed in Syria's crackdown on protesters, the United Nations says.

Nov. 12: The Arab League suspends Syria. Crowds attack the Saudi Arabian embassy in Damascus and French and Turkish consulates in Latakia.

Nov. 14: Jordan's King Abdullah becomes first Arab head of state to urge Assad to quit after ensuring a smooth handover. Elaraby meets representatives of Arab civil society and agrees to send a 500-strong fact-finding committee to Syria.

Nov. 16: Army defectors attack an Air Force Intelligence complex on the edge of Damascus. The Free Syrian Army, set up by deserters, is led by Colonel Riad al-Asaad, based in Turkey. Arab foreign ministers give Damascus 3 days to implement a road map to end the bloodshed and allow in observers. France and Morocco recall their ambassadors.

Nov. 19: Assad vows to pursue a crackdown on protests demanding his removal. He says there will be elections in February or March when Syrians will vote for a parliament to create a new constitution. An Arab League deadline for Syria to end its repression passes with no sign of violence abating.

Nov. 20: Rocket-propelled grenades hit a Baath Party building in Damascus. Syrian Free Army claims responsibility. The Arab League rejects a request by Damascus to amend plans to send a 500-strong monitoring mission to Syria.