Key events since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq

2003

March 19-20 — U.S.-led coalition launches Operation Iraqi Freedom to overthrow Saddam Hussein.

April 9 — U.S. troops swarm into Baghdad; jubilant crowds topple 40-foot statue of Saddam Hussein in Firdous Square.

May 1 — President Bush declares major combat operations in Iraq are over.

July 13 — U.S.-named 25-member National Governing Council of prominent Iraqis takes office.

Dec. 13 — Saddam captured in Adwar, 10 miles south of Tikrit.

2004

March 8 — Iraqi Governing Council signs interim constitution.

May 28 — Governing Council chooses Ayad Allawi, longtime anti-Saddam exile and CIA ally, as prime minister of Iraq's interim government.

June 28 — Occupation authority turns formal power over to Allawi's interim government.

July 1 — Saddam, arraigned before judge, rejects charges of war crimes and genocide.

Sept. 7 — U.S. military deaths in Iraq campaign pass 1,000.

Sept. 16 — Number of foreigners kidnapped during insurgency reaches at least 100.

Nov. 1 — Voter and candidate registration begin for national election.

2005

Jan. 26 — 31 U.S. servicemen die in helicopter crash and six others killed in insurgent ambushes, making this the deadliest day for Americans since invasion began.

Jan. 30 — Iraqis vote for 275-seat National Assembly. Shiite-dominated party wins about 48 percent of the vote, Kurdish alliance finishes with 26 percent.

Feb. 28 — A suicide car bomber blasts a crowd of police and national guard recruits outside a medical clinic in Hillah, south of Baghdad, killing 125 people in the single deadliest attack to date in the two-year insurgency.

March 3 — The number of U.S. military deaths passes 1,500, according to an Associated Press count.