TIMELINE: Ivory Coast's drawn-out political crisis

(Reuters) - Here is a timeline of events in Ivory Coast since the civil war:

September 19, 2002 - Dissident soldiers attack main city of Abidjan to try to overthrow President Laurent Gbagbo. Attempt fails but rebels seize north of country.

January 25, 2003 - Seydou Diarra is appointed a consensus prime minister under a peace deal signed in France, after Gbagbo agrees to share power with rebels and political rivals.

May 3 - Rebels and army sign total ceasefire ending months of fighting in western regions. French and West African troops secure ceasefire line on May 24 between rebel-held north and government-controlled south.

March 27, 2004 - Rebels and opposition RDR party pull out of government after crackdown on banned anti-Gbagbo march in which subsequent U.N. report says at least 120 people are killed.

July 30 - Warring parties sign a deal after talks in Ghana, setting out a timetable for reform and rebel disarmament.

April 6, 2005 - Rebels and Gbagbo finally agree at peace talks in Pretoria to end the war.

October 30 - Scheduled presidential polls are postponed. A U.N. resolution allows Gbagbo to remain in power another year, while a new prime minister is appointed.

December 4 - Charles Konan Banny, governor of West Africa's central bank, is appointed interim prime minister, after premier Diarra resigned.

January 15, 2006 - Foreign mediators recommend parliament not be reconvened. Gbagbo's supporters say the group has no right to make such a recommendation. Gbagbo supporters stage anti-U.N. protests in which 11 people are killed.

November 1 - U.N. Security Council votes unanimously to shift power from the president to the prime minister. It extends transitional government for a second year, until October 31, 2007.

March 4, 2007 - Gbagbo and Soro sign a peace deal brokered by Burkina Faso's president, Blaise Campaore.

March 26 - The government and rebels agree on Soro as prime minister under a plan to reunite the country. Gbagbo names a new government led by Soro on April 7.

April 16 - U.N. and French peacekeepers begin a staged pullback from the military buffer zone.

July 30 - Gbagbo goes to the rebel headquarters at Bouake for the first time since the war. He meets Soro for a "Flame of Peace" ceremony to symbolically burn weapons.

April 14, 2008 - Ivory Coast announces presidential elections for November 30 under the peace plan.

October 17 - The presidential election is "technically impossible" this year and will be held in 2009, officials say.

May 14, 2009 - Prime Minister Soro announces presidential election will take place on November 29.

May 26 - Rebels controlling the north officially hand over to civilian administrators, a step aimed at restoring government authority across the whole country.

October 16 - Election officials say a provisional voter list will not be ready for another month, making a November 29 poll all but impossible. Electronic lists were handed over to the election commission on October 1.

October 29 - The U.N. unanimously renews sanctions and diamond trade ban until October 31, 2010.

Nov 11 - Electoral commission confirms election will not be held on November 29.

Dec 3 - Mediators in Burkina Faso announce end of February or early March poll deadline.

Jan 9, 2010 - President Gbagbo accuses electoral commissioner Robert Mambe of fraudulently trying to add names to the list that were not cross checked, casting fresh doubt on when the election will be held.

Feb 11 - Prime Minister Soro suspends voter registration indefinitely after days of violent protests at government handling of the process.

Feb 12 - Gbagbo dissolves the government and electoral commission after a row over voter registration. The next day Ivory Coast's main opposition groups say they no longer recognized Gbagbo as president.

Feb 19 - Security forces open fire on hundreds of protesters in southwestern Gagnoa town, killing at least three people in the latest demonstration since Gbagbo dissolved the government.

Feb 20 - Thousands of protesters marched through the central Ivory Coast city of Bouake , some of them setting fire to cars, smashing up shops and looting a local government office.

(Writing by David Cutler, London Editorial Reference Unit; Editing by Michael Roddy)