by Herve Rouach PARIS, July 25 (AFP) - France warned Ivory Coast Tuesday against excluding candidates from a high-stakes presidential poll, after the junta tightened eligibility requirements that could bar opposition leader Alassane Ouattara from the race. On the heels of a referendum seen as the first step towards restoring civilian rule in Ivory Coast, French Cooperation Minister Charles Josselin called on Ivorians to avoid engaging in ethnically divisive politics in a nation long considered to be one of the most stable and prosperous in Africa. "There should be no artificial exclusion of any candidate. So that Ivorians can exercise their freedom of choice, each of the parties must present a candidate," Josselin told a press conference in Paris, in a clear reference to Ouattara, head of the Rally of Republicans (RDR) party. But Josselin, who said the referendum was a welcome step in the country's democratic process, said it would be unwise for junta leader General Robert Guei, who has left the electorate guessing as to whether he will run in presidential elections slated for September 17, to put his name on the ballot. "Democracy and the (military) uniform make for bad partners," Josselin said, adding: "Good candidates are those who are supported by political parties." On Sunday, residents of the west African nation, a former French colony, voted on a draft constitution which included contentious clauses stipulating that both parents of presidential candidates must be Ivorian and that candidates "must never have availed" themselves of another nationality. Ouattara won a scholarship to study in the United States and worked at the Central Bank of West African States as a national of Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast's northern neighbour. Ouattara's opponents contend that he is not Ivorian, and that his father and paternal grandmother were from Burkina Faso. Critics have accused the junta led by Guei of stirring up anti-foreign sentiment, which in part was responsible for the ouster of president Henri Konan Bedie in December. Before being toppled, Bedie and his political entourage waged an intense campaign against Ouattara, accusing him of forging his identity papers and of not being Ivorian. Ouattara has insisted that both his parents were born in Ivory Coast. During Tuesday's press conference, Josselin pointed out that Ouattara, who says he meets the eligibility requirements for running, had urged his supporters to vote in favour in the referendum. The issue of "Ivoirity" -- being a true-blood Ivorian -- has for many years poisoned political debate in Ivory Coast, where more than a third of the population is foreign, residents once credited with helping to build the nation. Since independence from France in 1960, Ivorian politics has been largely controlled by Christian southerners. France fears that the renewed polemic over nationality -- and the possible elimination of Ouattara, a Muslim, as a candidate -- will inflame passionate divisions in a country rich with 60 ethnic communities and followers of the Christian, Muslim and Animist faiths. "I would not like events before us to give rise to tension or violence between communities who live in Ivory Coast," Josselin said. hr/jlr/sst Sidi Sanneh ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------------