Reading Microsoft AD users via python

I have the following script in python, that reads user properties from Microsoft Active Directory. However I have some basic issues regarding string manipulation with this tool.
Basically, I try to read:
username, first name, last name
and then feed this result to a shell command in my linux system.
however I cannot properly handle the following situations:
a- first name field is blank
b- first name field contains spaces example "Erick Perez"
c- same for last name field (a and b)
d- last name or first name contains numbers, tildes or the letter ñ. (ASCII 0164)

Please advice.

#!/usr/bin/python
 
#--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Notes:
# This script automatically creates zimbra accounts from active directory.
# The user must be enabled, otherwise it will be skipped.
#--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Variables can be changed here:
import ldap, string, os, time, sys 
# BaseDN to search for user accounts.
base = 'cn=users,dc=quadrian,dc=gob,dc=pa'
scope = ldap.SCOPE_SUBTREE
# We filter for user accounts only, we skip machine and groups
filter = "(&(objectclass=person) (uid=%s))"
# Active Directory Domain Name
domain = "quadrian.gob.pa" 
# Active Directory Domain Controller
ldapserver="ancon"
#ldap port usually 389
port="389"
# Email domain to be used in mail applications
emaildomain="quadrian.gob.pa"
# Bind Domain for LDAP user account that will query the AD
ldapbinddomain="organojudicial"
#the account name of the account to bind to ldap and query de AD
ldapbind="zimbrasync"
ldappassword="xxxxxxx"
pathtozmprov="/opt/zimbra/bin/zmprov"
#--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Here We list all Zimbra Accounts. So we can compare if the account we read from AD
# is already created in Zimbra or not.
f = os.popen(pathtozmprov +' gaa')
zmprovgaa= []
zmprovgaa = f.readlines()
 
# Here we initialize the LDAP connection 
l=ldap.initialize("ldap://"+ldapserver+"."+domain+":"+port)
try:
	l.simple_bind_s(ldapbinddomain+"\\"+ldapbind,ldappassword)
except ldap.INVALID_CREDENTIALS:
	print "Your username or password to bind to LDAP is incorrect."
	sys.exit()
except ldap.LDAPError, e:
	if type(e.message) == dict and e.message.has_key('desc'):
		print e.message['desc']
	else:
		print e
	sys.exit()
# End of LDAP initialization
 
# Now we look for ENABLED user accounts in AD and get the following values
# sAMAccountName is the username to log on to the domain
# givenName is the first name
# sn is the surname or last name
# example of current usernames in the domain
# 4-982-345
# ericklatam
# memberOf are the groups this user belongs to
 
try:
    res = l.search_s(base,scope, "(&(ObjectCategory=user)  (userAccountControl=512))",  ['sAMAccountName','givenName','sn','memberOf'])
#userAccountControl  512 = normal , 514 = disabled account
    for (dn, vals) in res:
      accountname = vals['sAMAccountName'][0].lower()
      print "accountname: "+accountname
      try:
        sirname = vals['sn'][0].lower()
      except:
        sirname = vals['sAMAccountName'][0].lower()
      try:
        givenname = vals['givenName'][0]
      except:
        givenname = vals['sAMAccountName'][0].lower()
      try:
        groups = vals['memberOf']
      except:
        groups = 'none'
      initial = givenname[:1].upper()
      sirname = sirname.replace(' ', )
      sirname = sirname.replace('\\', )
      sirname = sirname.replace('-', )
      sirname = sirname.capitalize()
      name = initial + "." + sirname
      accountname = accountname + "@" + emaildomain
      password = "  \'\' "
      sys.stdout.flush()
      # if the account doesn't exist in the output of zmprov gaa create the  account
      if accountname +"\n" not in zmprovgaa:
        print  accountname," exists in active directory but not in zimbra, the   account is being created\n"
        time.sleep(1)
        os.system(pathtozmprov +' ca %s %s displayName %s' %  (accountname,password,name))
             
l.unbind_s()

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