TIMELINE-Attempts to sell the Sawiris telecoms empire

Aug 31 (Reuters) - Egyptian telecoms mogul Naguib Sawiris is in talks to sell a majority stake in mobile firm Orascom Telecom (ORTE.CA) and Italy's No. 3 operator Wind to telecoms group Vimpelcom (VIP.N), banking sources say.

Orascom said in May it would enter talks to sell its lucrative Djezzy unit to the Algerian goverment after authorities blocked it from selling the unit to South Africa's MTN (MTNJ.J), but little progress appears to have been made.

Below is a chronology of Sawiris's recent attempts to sell some or all of his assets, which include markets as far flung as North Korea, Canada and Bangladesh:

April 23 - MTN says it is in talks about a potential deal to buy Orascom assets. [ID:nLDE63M0DX]

April 27 - A source says talks to sell Orascom assets to MTN include Djezzy, its Telecel Globe-branded sub-Saharan assets and its 50 percent stake in a Tunisian operator. [ID:nLDE63Q2L1]

April 28 - Algeria says it will block any sale of Djezzy after the companies confirm talks are under way. [ID:nSGE63S02H]

May 27 - Bowing to pressure, Orascom says it will enter talks to sell Djezzy to the Algerian government. [ID:nLDE64Q1AA]

June 2 - Sawiris tells Reuters that MTN offered to pay $7.8 billion for Djezzy before Algeria halted the deal. [ID:nLDE6511LB]

June 9 - MTN and Orascom Telecom say sale talks end without a deal. [ID:nLDE6582CH]

July 1 - Sawiris's cash-strapped Greek operator Wind Hellas invites bids for the company, which is restructuring its debt for the second time in a year. [ID:nLDE66019R]

Aug 12 - A newspaper report, confirmed by two banking sources to Reuters, says Sawiris is in talks with telecoms group Vimpelcom (VIP.N) to sell Wind Italy and a majority stake in Orascom. [ID:nLDE67B0D5]

Aug 17 - An Italian newspaper says Vimpelcom and Sawiris are near to signing a non-binding term sheet for the sale of Sawiris's investment vehicle Weather Investments. [ID:nLDE67G09T]

Aug 31 - Sawiris says his holding company Weather Investments is talking to Vimpelcom about a merger and is open to talks with others, Canada's The Globe and Mail reports. [ID:nLDE67U0NV]

A commission chosen by Algeria will start evaluating next month how much Algeria should pay to acquire Djezzy, an Algerian newspaper reports. [ID:nLDE67U0KN] For a Q&A on Sawiris and Vimpelcom: [ID:nLDE67F0N6] (Compiled by Alexander Dziadosz; Editing by Michael Shields)