Informed Comment Homepage

Thoughts on the Middle East, History and Religion

Header Right

  • Featured
  • US politics
  • Middle East
  • Environment
  • US Foreign Policy
  • Energy
  • Economy
  • Politics
  • About
  • Archives
  • Submissions

© 2025 Informed Comment

  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Uncategorized

Sistani Kofi Annan Consult By Phone

Juan Cole 01/08/2004

Tweet
Share
Reddit
Email

Sistani, Kofi Annan, Consult by Phone

Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan had a telephone conversation Wednesday about the transition to an Iraqi government this summer, according to sources close to Sistani, as reported by the Baghdad daily az-Zaman. Sistani has renewed his call for general elections this spring instead of the elections based on American-appointed provincial councils. Sistani said that the latter “does not guarantee at all the representation of the Iraqis in a just fashion in the interim national parliament.” Sistani told CNN that he had been assured that fair and transparent elections could be held this spring. He still wants a UN commission to come to Iraq and to work toward free general elections. Failing that, he said that the UN commission should work with Iraqis to find a viable, and still democratic, alternative.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

About the Author

Juan Cole is the founder and chief editor of Informed Comment. He is Richard P. Mitchell Professor of History at the University of Michigan He is author of, among many other books, Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires and The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. Follow him on Twitter at @jricole or the Informed Comment Facebook Page

Primary Sidebar

Support Independent Journalism

Click here to donate via PayPal.

Personal checks should be made out to Juan Cole and sent to me at:

Juan Cole
P. O. Box 4218,
Ann Arbor, MI 48104-2548
USA
(Remember, make the checks out to “Juan Cole” or they can’t be cashed)

STAY INFORMED

Join our newsletter to have sharp analysis delivered to your inbox every day.
Warning! Social media will not reliably deliver Informed Comment to you. They are shadowbanning news sites, especially if "controversial."
To see new IC posts, please sign up for our email Newsletter.

Social Media

Bluesky | Instagram

Popular

  • Top Things You Still Think You Know About Iran that are Not True
  • Why Trump Bombed Iran: Preserving US and Israeli Nuclear Supremacy in the Middle East
  • Colonial Logic, not Jewish Wisdom Guides Israel's Wars
  • Trump's contravention of the 2015 Iran Nuclear Deal Led to Israel-Iran Escalation
  • Israel's Attacks have Exposed Iran's Weaknesses, but it is in Little Danger of Collapsing

Gaza Yet Stands


Juan Cole's New Ebook at Amazon. Click Here to Buy
__________________________

Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires



Click here to Buy Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires.

The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam


Click here to Buy The Rubaiyat.
Sign up for our newsletter

Informed Comment © 2025 All Rights Reserved