Timeline: U.N. rejects Gbagbo win in Ivorian poll

(Reuters) - Ivory Coast's top legal body declared incumbent Laurent Gbagbo the winner of a presidential election, but the United Nations said it did not recognize the announcement and that true results showed rival Alassane Ouattara won the vote.

Here is a timeline of events in Ivory Coast since the 2002-03 civil war split it in two.

September 19, 2002 - Dissident soldiers attack the main city of Abidjan to try to overthrow President Laurent Gbagbo. The bid fails but rebels of the Patriotic Movement of Ivory Coast (MPCI), seize the north of the country.

2002-2007 - Most of the fighting ends in 2003, although there are a number of clashes in 2004. Numerous peace deals go by the wayside and election deadlines are missed.

March 4, 2007 - Gbagbo signs a peace deal and power-sharing arrangement with rebel leader Guillaume Soro in an accord brokered by Burkina Faso's president, Blaise Campaore. A month later Gbagbo names a new government led by Soro.

July 30, 2007 - In a hugely symbolic trip, Gbagbo goes to rebel headquarters in the north for the first time since the war. He meets Soro for a "Flame of Peace" ceremony to burn weapons.

April 14, 2008 - More missed election dates: Ivory Coast announces a November 30 target date that fails to stick, then a new one for November 29, 2009. Postponements are blamed on a range of logistical failings, accusations of irregularities and a row over who is eligible to vote.

July 22, 2010 - Soro quits as rebel party chief, saying he wants to focus on making sure the presidential election can go ahead. The move comes amid a series of private meetings between Gbagbo and opposition leaders whose outcome remains unclear but which prompt speculation of behind-the-scenes progress toward staging the election.

August 5 - Soro announces October 31 as the date for first round of the poll.

September 9 - In a step seen clearing the main political hurdle to the election, Gbagbo signs a decree validating definitive voter lists. Two weeks later, Ivory Coast begins paying former rebel soldiers who disarmed ahead of elections.

October 14 - In a Reuters interview from a rebel "New Forces" stronghold in the western town of Man, New Forces deputy political leader Sidike Konate says the issue of identity cards to voters ended once and for all the dispute over Ivorian identity that was at the heart of the initial conflict.

October 15 - The U.N. Security Council renews arms, financial and travel sanctions for six months, as well as a ban on trade in rough diamonds from the West African country. But it promises to review the sanctions within three months as soon as Ivory Coast holds an "open, free, fair and transparent" election.

October 31 - First round of presidential election. Gbagbo comes out ahead with 38 percent, not enough to win outright, and former premier Alassane Ouattara is second with 32 percent.

November 28 - A run-off election between Gbagbo and Ouattara goes ahead, with an overnight curfew imposed by Gbagbo on grounds that it is needed to maintain security.

December 2 - The election commission says Ouattara wins the run-off with 54.1 percent of the vote compared with 45.9 percent for Gbagbo. The Constitutional Council rejects the results and the army seals the country's borders.

December 3 - Constitutional Council declares Gbagbo winner of the run off election, overturning provisional results.

-- The council cancels votes from four regions in the rebel-held north, giving Gbagbo 51 percent of the total vote, reversing a near 10 percent margin on Ouattara's win.

-- Ouattara's camp vows it will reject the results and warns of a possible return to civil war. The U.N. Mission Chief in Ivory Coast also refuses to accept poll result re-electing Gbagbo, and U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon issues a statement congratulating Ouattara on his victory.

-- A spokesman for the New Forces rebel group says it rejects claims Gbagbo won and recognizes results showing Ouattara's victory.

(Writing by David Cutler, London Editorial Reference Unit; editing by Richard Valdmanis)