TIMELINE-Political instability since East Timor independence

(Reuters) - The leader of a group of East Timor rebels and 12 of his men accused of trying to assassinate President Jose Ramos-Horta surrendered on Tuesday, raising hopes the troubled young nation can find some rare stability.

The country is rich in energy resources such as oil and natural gas, but is only beginning to tap them, while most of its one million people live in poverty.

Here is a timeline detailing political instability and events in East Timor since independence in 2002:

- May 20, 2002: East Timor becomes an independent nation, after a period of U.N. administration following an historic 1999 vote that ends Indonesia's post-1975 occupation. Former guerrilla leader and independence hero Xanana Gusmao becomes president.

- Dec 4: Capital Dili under curfew after rioting blamed on regrouping Indonesian-backed militiamen. Several people are shot dead in clashes and the prime minister's house is burned down.

- March 9, 2005: Indonesia and East Timor launch a joint truth commission to address a bloody rampage surrounding the vote on independence in 1999, when about 1,000 were killed, mostly by pro-Jakarta militia.

- March 16, 2006: Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri sacks 600 of the 1,400-strong army on charges of desertion. The move inflames the country's east-west divide and unleashes months of chaos in which an estimated 150,000 people were displaced and 37 killed. Many of the displaced still remain in refugee camps.

- July 10: Nobel Peace Prize laureate Jose Ramos-Horta sworn in as interim prime minister two weeks after Alkatiri, accused by critics of being responsible for the crisis, steps down.

- August 30: Major Alfredo Reinado, one of the figureheads of the May revolt, walks out of a Dili jail with 50 other inmates.