Timeline: Former PM Allawi wins Iraqi election

(Reuters) - Iraq announced on Friday that former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's Iraqiya coalition won the most seats in the March 7 parliamentary elections. Here is a timeline of Iraq since the U.S. led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein.

2003

March 20 - U.S. and British forces invade from Kuwait.

April 9 - U.S. troops take Baghdad, Saddam disappears.

July 13 - The Iraqi Governing Council -- 25 Iraqis chosen under U.S. supervision -- holds inaugural meeting in Baghdad.

August 19 - Suicide truck bomb at U.N. headquarters in Baghdad kills 22 people, including U.N. envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello.

December 13 - U.S. troops capture Saddam near Tikrit. U.S. governor of Iraq Paul Bremer breaks news with: "We got him."

2004

March 8 - Governing Council signs interim constitution.

June 1 - Governing Council dissolved to make way for interim government led by Iyad Allawi. Ghazi al-Yawar named president.

June 28 - United States formally returns sovereignty. Coalition Provisional Authority dissolved. Bremer leaves Iraq.

2005

January 30 - Shi'ite-led United Iraqi Alliance dominates vote for local council and interim parliament. Most Sunnis do not vote.

March 16 - National Assembly holds first meeting.

October 15 - Referendum ratifies constitution by 78 percent despite Sunni Arab opposition which nearly vetoes it.

December 15 - Parliamentary election. More Sunnis vote this time than in the provincial election.

2006

February 10 - Final results give Shi'ite-led UIA near majority with 128 seats. Sunni Arabs have 58 and Kurds 53.

February 22 - Bombing of Shi'ite shrine in Samarra sparks widespread sectarian violence, raising fears of civil war.

June 7 - U.S. aircraft kill al Qaeda in Iraq leader, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

November 5 - A Baghdad court finds Saddam guilty of crimes against humanity. He is executed on December 30.

2007

May 28 - Iranian and U.S. ambassadors to Iraq meet in Baghdad to discuss ways to improve security in the country. The talks end a three-decade diplomatic freeze between the two foes.

June 15 - U.S. military says it has completed its troop build-up, or "surge," to 160,000 soldiers to quell violence.

August 1 - The main Sunni Arab bloc pulls out of Maliki's cabinet, plunging the government into crisis.

August 14 - Truck bombings against the minority Yazidi community in northern Iraq kill more than 400 people. The bombings are the deadliest militant attacks in Iraq since 2003.

August 29 - Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr imposes ceasefire on Mehdi Army militia for six months after clashes with police.

2008

January 12 - Parliament votes for junior members of Saddam's Baath Party to return to government jobs, a benchmark of reconciliation.

March 25 - Maliki launches crackdown on militias in Basra, sparking battles with Sadr's Mehdi Army. Fighting rages for a week in south Iraq and many weeks in Baghdad, killing hundreds, but Mehdi army is eventually defeated and Sadr disbands it.

July 19 - Iraq's main Sunni Arab bloc rejoins the government when parliament approves its candidates for ministerial posts.

November 17 - Iraq and the United States sign an accord requiring Washington to withdraw its forces by the end of 2011. The pact gives the government authority over the U.S. mission for the first time, replacing a U.N. Security Council mandate.

2009

January 1 - U.S.-Iraq security pact comes into force, placing the roughly 140,000 U.S. troops under Iraqi authority.

January 31 - Iraq holds provincial elections, the most peaceful vote since the fall of Saddam, demonstrating big security gains. Results show Maliki's nationalist coalition scores big victory at the expense of sectarian and federalist parties.

February 27 - U.S. President Barack Obama announces plan to end U.S. combat operations in Iraq by August 31, 2010, but says will leave up to 50,000 troops to fight insurgents and train Iraqi forces. He makes an unannounced visit to Baghdad on April 7.

June 30 - Iraqi forces assume responsibility for securing cities after the withdrawal of U.S. troops from urban areas.

August 19 - Suicide bombers targeting the foreign and finance ministries kill at least 95 people in Baghdad.

October 1 - Maliki announces his State of Law coalition will run against former Shi'ite allies in national elections.

October 25 - Twin car bombs target the Justice Ministry and the Baghdad provincial government building, killing at least 155 people and wounding more than 500 in central Baghdad.

December 8 - Four car bombs explode in Baghdad striking government buildings despite a security crackdown, killing at least 112 people and wounding 425.

- Hours later, Iraq sets March 7, 2010 as the long awaited date for a general election.

2010

January - The Justice and Accountability Commission, a body that replaced a "de-Baathification" committee established after the U.S. invasion, bars nearly 500 candidates from the March 7 parliamentary vote.

January 25 - Suicide bombers target three landmark hotels. More than 30 people are killed.

March 7 - Parliamentary elections.

March 26 - Former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's Iraqiya coalition wins 91 seats, two more than Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's State of Law bloc.

(Writing by David Cutler, London Editorial Reference Unit)