 Sudanese voting center workers sort and count ballots in Aweil in Sudan's Northern Bahr El-Ghazal at the end of a week-long independence referendum in south Sudan. AFP photo. |
The once sleepy south Sudan town that hopes to become the world's newest national capital opted 97.5 percent for independence, preliminary results from a landmark vote showed on Wednesday.
Full preliminary results from a number of the south's 10 states even showed landslides for secession as high as 99 percent.
In Lakes state, centered on Rumbek town, which served as rebel headquarters during a 1983-2005 civil war with the north, 298,216 of the 300,444 votes cast were for independence, a whopping 99.924 percent of the total.
Just 227 opted to remain united with the north - 0.076 percent of the total - with the balance made up by blank or invalid ballots. In Western Bahr al-Ghazal state, home of one of the south's three big cities, Wau, 153,839 of 162,594 votes cast were for secession, 94.6 percent of the total. There were just 7,237 votes for continued union.
In Unity state, the south's main oil-producing area, with 472,000 votes collated, organizers reported more than 471,000 votes for independence and a mere 91 for unity. Yei county in the far south on the Ugandan border reported nearly 98 percent of votes cast for secession, according to its preliminary result.
In the southern capital of Juba, cheers and applause rang out as the head of Juba county referendum sub-committee, Timon Wani, announced the result. There were 211,018 votes cast for independence for the mainly Christian, African region, against just 3,650 for continued unity with the mainly Arab, Muslim north, Wani said. "This is a great result," said Mohammed Lowala, who was among the crowd.
"You cannot get a decision more clear that the south wants to be free than 97.5 percent," he said. "The people of Juba county have spoken for independence and I am sure that the rest of the south will follow."
Officials across the south's 10 states were busy collating their final returns from the week-long referendum to determine whether the impoverished, war-ravaged region is be recognised as the world's newest state in July.
"We know the result is for separation because that is what everyone wants," said William Moro, waiting for the result. "But hearing the results announced to make it official will be very exciting - to have the piece of paper to show the north."
The final result is not expected before next month after the state results have been collated at regional level and added to those southerners who voted in the north or in eight countries of the diaspora.
"Now the ballots are being moved to the 10 state capitals of the south - many have already arrived," said Aleu Garang Aleu, a spokesman for the Southern Sudanese Referendum Bureau, which is running the vote in the south. "We are being methodical to make sure all the rules are respected -- and that takes time, of course."
And southern leaders have warned against any premature celebration or triumphalizm that might undermine hopes of a velvet divorce from the north after five decades of conflict. The U.N. Security Council powers all praised the conduct of the referendum on Tuesday, after foreign observer missions endorsed its credibility.
But council members expressed concern about tensions in the disputed district of Abyei on the north-south border where dozens died in clashes earlier this month, overshadowing the week-long polling that ended on Saturday.
More than three days of fighting between migratory Misseriya Arab nomads from the north and settled pro-southern Dinka Ngok killed between 20 and 60 people, the head of the U.N. Mission in Sudan, Haile Menkerios, told the council.
The district had been due to hold a simultaneous plebiscite on its own future alongside the wider southern referendum but it has been indefinitely postponed. Menkerios said that uncertainty meant there was "a risk of instability" for months to come.
Full preliminary results from a number of the south's 10 states even showed landslides for secession as high as 99 percent.
In Lakes state, centered on Rumbek town, which served as rebel headquarters during a 1983-2005 civil war with the north, 298,216 of the 300,444 votes cast were for independence, a whopping 99.924 percent of the total.
Just 227 opted to remain united with the north - 0.076 percent of the total - with the balance made up by blank or invalid ballots. In Western Bahr al-Ghazal state, home of one of the south's three big cities, Wau, 153,839 of 162,594 votes cast were for secession, 94.6 percent of the total. There were just 7,237 votes for continued union.
In Unity state, the south's main oil-producing area, with 472,000 votes collated, organizers reported more than 471,000 votes for independence and a mere 91 for unity. Yei county in the far south on the Ugandan border reported nearly 98 percent of votes cast for secession, according to its preliminary result.
In the southern capital of Juba, cheers and applause rang out as the head of Juba county referendum sub-committee, Timon Wani, announced the result. There were 211,018 votes cast for independence for the mainly Christian, African region, against just 3,650 for continued unity with the mainly Arab, Muslim north, Wani said. "This is a great result," said Mohammed Lowala, who was among the crowd.
"You cannot get a decision more clear that the south wants to be free than 97.5 percent," he said. "The people of Juba county have spoken for independence and I am sure that the rest of the south will follow."
Officials across the south's 10 states were busy collating their final returns from the week-long referendum to determine whether the impoverished, war-ravaged region is be recognised as the world's newest state in July.
"We know the result is for separation because that is what everyone wants," said William Moro, waiting for the result. "But hearing the results announced to make it official will be very exciting - to have the piece of paper to show the north."
The final result is not expected before next month after the state results have been collated at regional level and added to those southerners who voted in the north or in eight countries of the diaspora.
"Now the ballots are being moved to the 10 state capitals of the south - many have already arrived," said Aleu Garang Aleu, a spokesman for the Southern Sudanese Referendum Bureau, which is running the vote in the south. "We are being methodical to make sure all the rules are respected -- and that takes time, of course."
And southern leaders have warned against any premature celebration or triumphalizm that might undermine hopes of a velvet divorce from the north after five decades of conflict. The U.N. Security Council powers all praised the conduct of the referendum on Tuesday, after foreign observer missions endorsed its credibility.
But council members expressed concern about tensions in the disputed district of Abyei on the north-south border where dozens died in clashes earlier this month, overshadowing the week-long polling that ended on Saturday.
More than three days of fighting between migratory Misseriya Arab nomads from the north and settled pro-southern Dinka Ngok killed between 20 and 60 people, the head of the U.N. Mission in Sudan, Haile Menkerios, told the council.
The district had been due to hold a simultaneous plebiscite on its own future alongside the wider southern referendum but it has been indefinitely postponed. Menkerios said that uncertainty meant there was "a risk of instability" for months to come.
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