BEIRUT, Feb 15 (AFP) - Syria, which stands accused by some of orchestrating the bomb attack which killed former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri, has been the effective power in neighbouring Lebanon since it first deployed troops there in June 1976 after the start of the civil war. Despite successive scalings-down of its military presence, Damascus still has an estimated 14,000 men in the country, considerably fewer than the 35,000 deployed at the height of the war. Following is a chronology of relations between the two countries since Syrian troops were first posted in Lebanon:

1975 April: Clashes, viewed as the start of Lebanon's 15-year-long civil war, erupt in Beirut.

1976 June: Syrian troops enter Lebanon to restore peace but also to curb the Palestinians. October: After Arab summits in Riyadh and Cairo, a ceasefire is arranged and a predominantly Syrian Arab Deterrent Force established to maintain it.

1978 March 14: Israel launches major invasion of Lebanon, occupying land as far north as the Litani river, south of Beirut, in reprisal for a Palestinian attack into its territory. March 19: UN Security Council passes resolution 425 calling on Israel to withdraw from all Lebanese territory, and establishing the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) to confirm the withdrawal. June 13: Israel hands over territory in southern Lebanon to its proxy, a mainly Christian Lebanese militia, ignoring UNIFIL.

1982 June 6: After attempted assassination of the Israeli ambassador to Britain, Israel launches full-scale invasion of Lebanon. September 15: Israeli troops occupy West Beirut. September 16-18: Phalangist militia slaughter Palestinians in Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in West Beirut, under eyes of Israeli forces. September 24: First US, French and Italian peacekeeping force arrives in Beirut.

1983 May 17: Israel and Lebanon sign accord on Israeli withdrawal, establishing a security region in southern Lebanon.

1985 June: Most Israeli troops withdraw but some remain to support its proxy force -- the mainly Christian South Lebanon Army (SLA), led by Antoine Lahad.

1986 Lebanon officially cancels May 1983 agreement with Israel.

1988 September: Lebanon has two governments -- one mainly Muslim in West Beirut, and one Christian, in East Beirut led by Maronite General Michel Aoun.

1989 March 14: Aoun declares a "war of liberation" against the Syrian presence. October: Lebanese national assembly, meeting in Taif, Saudi Arabia, endorses a Charter of National Reconciliation, which leads to the end of the civil war. Taif agreement calls for a Syrian pullback to the eastern Bekaa Valley, but does not set a date for the full pullout.

1990 October 13: Syrian airforces attacks presidential palace and Aoun takes refuge in French embassy, events regarded as marking the end of the civil war.

1993 July 25: Israel attempts to end the threat from Hezbollah and Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command, in southern Lebanon by launching "Operation Accountability", the heaviest attack since 1982.

1996 April 11: Israelis bomb Hezbollah bases in southern Lebanon, southern part of Beirut and the Bekka, in "Operation Grapes of Wrath". April 18: Israeli attack on UN base results in death of over 100 Lebanese refugees taking shelter there. April 26: US negotiates a truce an "understanding" under which Hezbollah and Palestinian guerrillas agree not to attack civilians in northern Israel but recognises Hezbollah's right to resist the Israeli occupation. Lebanon and Syria do not sign up to this but become part of the Israel-Lebanon Monitoring Group, along with US, France and Israel.

1998 October 15: General Emile Lahoud, favoured by Syria, is elected president by parliament.

2000 May 24: After collapse of the South Lebanon Army and rapid advance of Hezbollah forces, Israel withdraws its troops from Lebanon. October 17: Nabih Berri, considereed a Syrian ally, is re-elected parliamentary speaker. December 1: Hundreds of Syrian soldiers leave Beirut and settle in the Bekka valley close to the Syrian border.

2001 April 16: First Israeli raid on Syrian position in Lebanon since 1982 in retaliation for a Hezbollah attack on the Chebaa Farms region. June 14-19: Syria redeploys some of its forces in Lebanon, leaving some 20,000 men on Lebanese soil.

2002 April 3-4: Syria again scales back some of its forces.

2003 February and July: Syria carries out two withdrawals of its forces, bringing the figure down to between 16,000 and 18,000 troops as part of the Taif peace agreement. April: Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri forms a new government, regarded as the most pro-Syrian since Damascus became involved.

2004 May 11: US imposes sanctions on Syria September 2: UN Security Council adopts Resolution 1559 calling for the withdrawal of foreign forces from Lebanon and respect for its sovereignty. September 3: Lebanese parliament approves a controversial constitutional amendment giving Lahoud another three years in office. September: US envoy William Burns visits Damascus to tell Syria it should stop meddling in Lebanon's affairs and pull out its troops. September 21: Syrian forces evacuate military posts as part of the troop pullback eastwards towards the Syrian border. October 20: Hariri resigns as prime minster in protest at the dominant role of Damascus in his country to be replaced by pro-Syrian deputy Omar Karameh six days later. December 13: For the first time since 1975, a united opposition denounces the Syrian presence and calls for the government to resign. December 18: Syria dismantles its secret service in Lebanon, admitting its presence in the country for the first time.

2005 February 2: Lebanese opposition takes a tougher line on Syria, calling for a total troop withdrawal and endorsing Resolution 1559. February 14: Hariri and 14 others are killed in a bomb attack in Beirut. Syria, accused of involvement, condemns it as "an odious crime".

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