ABIDJAN, Oct 26 (AFP) - Ivory Coast's military spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Jules Yao Yao, made a lengthy plea on state television Saturday for national unity and tolerance among the country's many ethnic and religious communities. "National unity and harmony are the most precious thing that all the ethnic and religious communities in Ivory Coast have to share," Yao Yao said in his daily briefing, normally devoted to the military situation on the frontlines of the five-week rebellion. He said Ivory Coast's top officials take their legitimacy from their ability to represent the nation's diverse values and to win acceptance from all. "Wanting to impose on the nation a chief ... will only weaken Ivory Coast and compromise our collective future," he said. "No community has the ability or the right to impose its values on others. Ethnicity is not genetic, it's cultural. We need to understand these simple things so that we can better tolerate each other," he said. The conciliatory remarks came after a military uprising broke out on September 19, splitting the nation in two and sparking ethnic and religious hate attacks. West African nations are organizing peace talks between the government and the rebels, who say they are fighting for the rights of northern Muslims. They also want Gbagbo to resign to clear the way for new elections. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~