YASSER ARAFAT was born the son of a wealthy textile dealer in Cairo, probably in 1929. For decades, he has had a decisive influence on developments in the Middle East in his battle for a Palestinian state.
1956: Arafat sees combat as an Egyptian army reserve office during the Israeli-Arab war
1969: Arafat takes over the chairmanship of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO).
1974: Arab countries recognize the PLO as the sole representative of the Palestinian people. Arafat addresses the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
1982: Arafat is forced to flee to Tunisia after Israel invades Lebanon.
1988: A year after the start of the first Palestinian uprising or intifada, Arafat declares the state of Palestine while in Algiers and recognizes Israel's right to exist.
1993: Arafat, former Israeli premier Itzhak Rabin and U.S. President Bill Clinton sign the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self Government Arrangements in Washington which laid the groundwork for the Oslo Israeli-Palestinian interim peace accords.
1994: Arafat, Rabin and Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres are awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Arafat returns to his parents' Palestinian home after 27 years.
1996: Almost 90 per cent of Palestinians elect him president of the Palestinian autonomy authority.
2000: A Camp David summit between Clinton, Arafat and the Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak fails to reach agreement on the final status of Jerusalem. Ariel Sharon, the right-winger who was later to succeed Barak, toured the al-Aqsa Temple Mount complex in Jerusalem and this move is widely believed to have provoked the second intifada.
2001: Israel severs contact with Arafat, placing him under house arrest at his headquarters in Ramallah. -dpa
