Major dates in the life of Yasser Arafat

The life of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, who died 10 years ago, mirrored the progress of the Palestinian struggle for a state. Here are the main dates in his life.

1929

August 4: Born Mohammed Abdel Rawf Arafat Al Qudwa Al Hussaini in Cairo.

1948

Joins an armed Palestinian group and takes part in the war which followed Israel’s establishment.

1959

Establishes the Fatah nationalist movement in Kuwait.

1965

Fatah launches an armed struggle against Israel.

1969

February 4: Elected chairman of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO).

1970

September: Expelled from Amman after thousands of Palestinians killed in “Black September” clashes with Jordanian forces, and establishes PLO headquarters in Beirut.

1974

November 13: Addresses the UN General Assembly for the first time, saying he has come holding both “an olive branch and a freedom fighter’s gun.” Says: “Do not let the olive branch fall from my hand.”

1988

November 15: Symbolic declaration of a Palestinian state by the Palestine National Council, which includes implicit recognition of Israel.

1990

July 17: Marries assistant Suha Tawil, 28. They have a daughter, Zahwa, in 1995.

1991

January: PLO backing for Iraq in the Gulf War isolates Arafat and deprives him of financial support from Arab monarchies.

1992

April 7: Survives a plane crash in the Libyan Desert.

1993

September 13: Historic handshake with Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin at the White House as the two sign the Oslo peace accords.

1994

July 1: Arafat returns to the Palestinian territories after 27 years, forms the Palestinian Authority in Gaza City.

October 14: Wins Nobel Peace Prize along with Rabin and Israeli foreign minister Shimon Peres.

2000

July 25: Camp David summit between Arafat and Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak collapses. The second Palestinian intifada erupts in late September.

2001

December 3: Arafat confined to Ramallah by Israeli troops after a series of Palestinian suicide attacks against Israelis.

2003

February 14: Arafat creates post of Palestinian premier following heavy international pressure, but power struggles paralyse the Palestinian Authority.

2004

November 11: Dies in France, at 75, after being taken to hospital on October 29. On November 17, France implicitly denies rumours Israel poisoned him.

2012

July 31: Arafat’s widow files a civil suit in France against persons unknown for murder with prosecutors opening an inquiry a month later. Samples taken from his body in November are shared with experts from France, Russia and Switzerland.

2013

December: French and Russian experts rule out polonium poisoning, a month after the Swiss team suggested a third party was probably involved in Arafat’s death because of high levels of polonium in its samples.

* Agence France-Presse