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| 1999, Feb. 7 |
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| In a day of mourning for diplomats across the world, many world leaders came together to grieve the death of King Hussein of Jordan, whose death came during his 46th year as ruler of Jordan. | 1 |
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| Feb. 16 |
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| Leader of the Kurdish terrorist group, the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), Abdullah Ocalan was captured, tried, and convicted of treason for his militant leadership role. Ocalan was sentenced on June 29 to death for his war crimes. Attributing a desire for peace to the wishes of Ocalan himself, the PKK announced on Aug. 5 that it would cease its 14-year armed rebellion against the Turkish government. | 2 |
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| March 6 |
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| Bahrain's ruler for 40 years, Sheik Isa ibn-Sulman al-Khalifah died and was succeeded by his son. | 3 |
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| March 8 |
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| In Qatar municipal elections, women were enfranchised for the first time. Qatar and Oman were the only Gulf States to uphold a woman's right to vote. Massive protests erupted in Morocco over a similar attempt to advance as women's rights supporters and Islamic fundamentalists clashed over proposed reforms. | 4 |
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| April 5 |
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| The international embargo of Libya was ended when Pres. Qaddafi handed over two men suspected of perpetrating the 1988 bombing of a Pan American World Airways aircraft, which exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland during flight 103, leaving over 270 dead. | 5 |
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| May 17 |
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| Benjamin Netanyahu lost the premiership to Ehud Barak, head of the Center-Left One Israel coalition. | 6 |
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| July 23 |
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| King Hassan II, who had reigned in Morocco since 1961, died and was succeeded by his son, Sidi Muhammad VI. | 7 |
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| Nov. 14 |
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| Refusing to turn over ex-Saudi millionaire and terrorist leader Osama bin Laden to the U.S. for prosecution, Taliban-led Afghanistan faced increased U.S. and UN economic sanctions; the two partners froze all of Afghanistan's foreign assets and tightened an embargo against the nation. | 8 |
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| Dec. 15 |
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| Newly elected Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak met with Syrian foreign minister Farouk al-Sharon in Washington, D.C. In this summit, Syrian talks with Israel resumed after four years of silence between the nations and focused on the peaceful return of Golan Heights to Syrian control. | 9 |
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