CHRONOLOGY:1990 Aug 2 - Iraq invades Kuwait. The next day the US announces it is sending a naval force to the Gulf and orders in combat troops and planes four days later.
Aug 15 - US President George Bush (left) says US build-up is meant not just to defend Saudi Arabia but to liberate Kuwait.
1991 Jan 8 - Pentagon says over 360,000 US forces in Saudi Arabia and area. Total to reach 430,000 by end of January.
Jan 17 - US-led allied forces launch Gulf War.
Feb 28 - War ends. US withdraws bulk of its forces but keeps thousands deployed in the kingdom.
1995 Nov 13 - Five Americans among seven killed in explosion in car park near a US-run military centre in Riyadh.
1996 May 31 - Saudi authorities behead four nationals found guilty of bombing US-run military training centre in Riyadh in November.
June 25 - Bomb in truck kills 19 US soldiers and wounds 400 people at US military housing complex in eastern city of Khobar. Some US officials criticise Riyadh for not sharing information on investigation.
2001 Sept 11 - Suicide attacks on US cities which the US blames on Saudi-born militant Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network, and identifies 15 of the 19 hijackers as Saudi.
Oct 25 - US seeks to play down reports it is unhappy with Saudi support for its war on terrorism.
Nov 9 - Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal (right) says Bush's refusal to meet Palestinian President Yasser Arafat "makes a sane man go mad" and that his government was frustrated that Washington had failed to act on a promised initiative for a deal between Israel and the Palestinians.
2002 Jan and Feb - After seething over post-September 11th criticism of its approach to extremism, Saudi Arabia mounts a public offensive to repair tarnished ties with the US. Saudi Arabia is also faulted for not granting immediate US access to Prince Sultan Air Base for the Afghan war, and for not moving quickly to close Saudi-funding channels for al-Qaeda.
Jan 18 - White House says Bush wants to keep the US military presence in Saudi Arabia despite reported grumblings from the Saudis that the US has overstayed its welcome.
April 26 - Bush, warned by Saudi Arabia that US ties with the Arab world were at risk over Middle East violence, urges Israel to complete withdrawal from Palestinian areas.
2003 Jan 30 - US issues travel warning against visits to Saudi Arabia.
March 18 - Saudi Arabia vows it will take no part in a US-led war on "brotherly Iraq".
March 20 - Bush announces start of Iraq war.
March 26 - Prince Saud warns that Saudi Arabia's alliance with the US may be damaged if the war against Iraq drags on or turns into a bloodbath for civilians.
April 19 - Iraq's neighbours, led by Saudi Arabia, tell the US to get out of Iraq and keep its hands off Iraqi oil.
April 29 - US announces it is to remove nearly all of its 5,000 troops in Saudi Arabia in realignment of forces overseas.
May 1 - Washington warns its citizens for a third time in one year to avoid travel to Saudi Arabia, saying intelligence agencies had credible information about a possible al-Qaeda plot to strike US targets there. Gunman wounds a US civilian in eastern Saudi Arabia.
May 13 - Suicide bombers kill at least 29 people at housing compounds in Riyadh hours before Secretary of State Colin Powell (left) arrives for a visit. - (Reuters)