Chilcot inquiry: Timeline of events from 9/11 to the announced publication date of the report

The findings of the long-awaited Chilcot report will be published at the beginning of July - shortly after the EU referendum - a spokesman for the inquiry announced today. Here is a timeline of the events, starting with the attack on the World Trade Centres in 2001 and ending with the announcement of the report’s publication date:

Terrorists belonging to al-Qaeda use hijacked aeroplanes to kill 2,996 people in attacks on the east coast of the US.

Tony Blair promises George W Bush that the UK will support the US, whatever the President decides to do.

Congress authorises President Bush to use all “necessary and appropriate force” against terrorists.

A US-led coalition begins its aerial attacks on Afghanistan. By the time combat operations come to a formal end on 28 December, the Taliban has been overthrown; but Osama bin Laden remains at large.

Jack Straw, Foreign Secretary, warns Blair that invading Iraq would be legally dubious

An MI6 briefing appears to convince Blair that the WMD threat from Libya is far more serious than that from Iraq

Tony Blair visits President Bush at his ranch in Crawford, Texas. Some witnesses report that, following a private meeting between the two, Blair’s stance on Iraq “tightened”; but Blair himself has disputed claims that he gave an “undertaking in blood” to go to war in Iraq.

Blair explicitly mentions the possibility of “regime change” in a speech.

General Tommy Franks, commander of US forces, tells Air Chief Marshal Sir Brian Burridge that he hopes the UK would be “alongside” the US in attacking Iraq.

Tony Blair asks defence officials to outline options for UK participation in military action against Iraq.

Blair tells MP “no decisions... have been taken about military action.”

Senior members of the government meet with senior defence and intelligence figures to discuss the build-up to war. A note of the meeting, known as the “Downing Street memo”, was later published, appearing to confirm that military action was now considered inevitable.

The government publishes a dossier about the threat from Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction. A foreword by Tony Blair states that Saddam Hussein’s “military planning allows for some of the WMD to be ready within 45 minutes of an order to use them”. It is subsequently alleged that this dossier was “sexed up” for political reasons.

Congress authorises President Bush to use military force against Iraq.

UN Security Council passes resolution 1441, insisting that weapons inspectors be allowed back into Iraq and calling on the regime to give up its WMD or face the consequences.

Paul Bremer becomes Administrator of the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq.

Paul Bremer dissolves the Iraqi army, along with other key elements of the Baathist state.

In a BBC interview, former International Development Secretary Clare Short accuses Tony Blair of having misled the Cabinet on the eve of war.

Iraqi Governing Council established.

David Kelly, an expert in biological warfare, is found dead after being named as the source of quotations used by the BBC’s Andrew Gilligan to suggest that the dossier of September 2002 had been “sexed up”. Lord Hutton is appointed to chair a judicial inquiry into his death.

New Iraqi government established.

Report of Iraq Survey Group reveals absence of evidence of WMD in Iraq.

Saddam Hussein is captured near Tikrit, after nine months in hiding.

The report of the Hutton Inquiry is published.

Lord Butler is appointed to chair an official review of the intelligence on WMD on which the British government reportedly based its decision to take part in the invasion of Iraq.

Bombings in Baghdad and Karbala kill nearly 200 people: the worst attacks since the fall of Saddam.

A CBS report brings photographic evidence of the abuse of prisoners by US forces in Baghdad’s Abu Ghraib prison to worldwide attention.

UN transfers sovereignty from the Coalition Provisional Authority to the Iraqi Interim Government.

The Butler Review is published. Its conclusion is that some of the intelligence used to justify attacking Iraq was unreliable and that “more weight was placed on the intelligence than it could bear”.

More than 1,350 insurgents are killed when the US uses overwhelming force to recapture the rebel-held city of Fallujah.

Bombs in Baghdad kill 160 people and injure more than 500.

Iraq’s new constitution is approved in a referendum.

Iraq’s first post-Saddam parliamentary election.

Saddam Hussein is executed.

New Iraqi government succeeds transitional government.

In the face of insurrection, the US announces a “surge” of 20,000 extra troops to increase security in Baghdad.

The last British combat troops leave Iraq.

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Gordon Brown, Tony Blair’s successor as Prime Minister, announces that an inquiry will be set up, under Sir John Chilcot, to “learn the lessons” of the conflict.

The Chilcot inquiry holds its first public hearing.

Inconclusive parliamentary elections result in the formation of a government in which Nouri al-Maliki continues as Prime Minister.

In Syria, protests begin against the Assad regime; the civil war to follow will destabilise the entire region, including Iraq.

The Chilcot inquiry holds its final public hearing.

Sir John Chilcot says that his report will be published, at the earliest, in the autumn of 2011.

The Chilcot inquiry announces that it cannot publish report before summer 2012 if it is to “do justice” to the complexities involved.

The last US troops leave Iraq, after nearly nine years of combat that cost 4,488 US lives and left 32,226 soldiers injured.

Sir John Chilcot says that he cannot report before mid-2013.

The Chilcot inquiry announces that it cannot proceed with its work due to an impasse over the release of key documents (including exchanges between Blair and Bush).

The Chilcot inquiry says that it will publish the “gist” of exchanges between Blair and Bush, but that full transcripts will remain secret.

The extremist group known as Isis captures Mosul, along with large swathes of northern and western Iraq.

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, leader of Isis, declares a new “caliphate” over 250,000sq km of Iraq and Syria.

William Hague and David Cameron say they hope the report will be published before the 2015 general election.

Sir John Chilcot confirms that his report will not be published before the general election in May 2015.

Chilcot agrees to appear before the Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee to answer questions about progress

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He tells committee that he will not give a timetable for publication. He also informs MPs that one of the panel members, historian Martin Gilbert, has died.

He tells PM he will finish report by April 2016

Falklands veteran Simon Weston described the inquiry as “an insult to the memories of every single person that died”

Publication date (July 6) announced by Sir John Chilcot and David Cameron