TIMELINE: Zimbabwe's crisis since March elections

(Reuters) - Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF party and the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) reached a power sharing deal on Thursday.

March 30 - Opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) claims victory in presidential and parliamentary elections based on early results.

April 2 - Results show President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF lost parliamentary majority for the first time since independence in 1980.

May 2 - Electoral body says MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai won most votes in the presidential election, but not enough to avoid a run-off against Mugabe. MDC challenges the result.

June 22 - Tsvangirai says he is pulling out of June 27 run-off vote because of attacks by Mugabe's supporters on his followers.

June 27 - Run-off goes head despite calls for a postponement from Africa and the rest of the world.

June 29 - Mugabe is declared winner with 85.51 percent of the vote and sworn in for a new five-year term.

July 11 - Russia and China veto a Western-backed U.N. Security Council resolution to impose sanctions on Zimbabwe.

July 22 - The European Union agrees additional sanctions against Zimbabwean leaders. Three days later, the United States expands its sanctions.

July 24 - Senior negotiators from the MDC and ZANU-PF begin talks to end the deadlock over Mugabe's re-election on June 27.

Sept 11 - ZANU-PF and the MDC reach a power-sharing deal.

(For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: africa.reuters.com/ )

(Writing by David Cutler, London Editorial Reference Unit, editing by Andrew Dobbie)