HOW THE CONFLICT DEVELOPED

Here is a brief chronology in the dispute between Iraq and Kuwait over oil production and their common border.

July 17: Iraqi President Saddam Hussein accuses Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates of flooding the oil market and driving prices down. He said that the move cost Iraq $14 billion in lost oil revenue.

July 18: Iraq accuses Kuwait of stealing $2.4 billion worth of oil from wells along disputed border with Iraq and seeking to wreck Iraq’s economy by overproducing oil and pushing down prices.

July 20: Kuwaiti officials suggest Iraq’s sudden outburst of belligerence is aimed at getting its creditors--including Kuwait--to write off billions of dollars in debts from the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war.

July 24: The U.S. Defense Department announces that Navy warships and aircraft are holding a “short-notice exercise” in the Persian Gulf with the United Arab Emirates, about 600 miles southeast of the Kuwait-Iraqi border. Kuwait goes on state of alert.

July 25: Baghdad says that it will not be intimidated by U.S. pressure in its oil dispute with neighboring Kuwait, and Hussein summons the U.S. ambassador for talks. President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt says Iraq and Kuwait will meet in Saudi Arabia for talks.

July 26: OPEC ministers in Geneva agree to halt overproduction in hopes of pushing up the price of crude oil. Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates pledge to abide by the agreement.

July 31: Kuwaiti, Iraqi delegations meet in Jidda, Saudi Arabia, to negotiate oil and border dispute. Diplomats say Iraq has 100,000 troops on Kuwait’s border; Kuwait army numbers about 20,000 troops.

Aug. 1: Unconfirmed reports say Iraq has moved more troops toward the Kuwaiti border. Talks in Jidda collapse.

Aug. 2: Iraqi troops invade Kuwait at 2 a.m. local time.