[JURIST] UN Secretary General Kofi Annan [official profile; JURIST news archive] has called on Iraq to make its constitutional process [JURIST news archive] more transparent and inclusive. Such an approach would create a broader consensus leading up to the planned Oct. 15 referendum [JURIST report], Annan told the UN Security Council [official website] Thursday in his regular progress report on UN operations in Iraq. Annan also warned that Iraqi citizens' lives are increasingly threatened by terrorism, violent crime and military excess. More than 80 percent of the 1,100 bodies studied in July at the Baghdad Forensic Institute showed evidence of violent deaths, which was a major increase from previous months. Annan said the evidence suggested that Iraqi citizens' right to life was threatened as violence surged [BBC News report] in the country even more over the past week. The UN has a news release on Annan's report. Reuters has more.