JUBA, Sudan — Southern Sudan’s referendum commission said Sunday that more than 99 percent of voters in the south opted to secede from the north in a vote held this month.
The announcement drew cheers from a crowd of thousands that gathered in Juba, the dusty capital of what may become the world’s newest country.
The week-long vote, held in early January and widely praised for being peaceful and for meeting international standards, was a condition of a 2005 peace agreement that ended a north- south civil war that lasted two decades and killed 2 million people.
The head of the commission’s southern bureau, Justice Chan Reec Madut, said Sunday that voter turnout in the 10 states in the south also was 99 percent. He said only about 16,000 voters in the south chose to remain united with northern Sudan, while 3.7 million chose to separate.
In northern Sudan, 58 percent of voters chose secession, said Mohamed Ibrahim Khalil, chairman of the referendum commission. He said about 60 percent of eligible voters participated.
Referendum commission officials did not announce an overall percentage total for all votes cast. The commission’s website said Sunday that 98.8 percent of voters chose secession but noted that the figure may change.
If the process stays on track, Southern Sudan will become the world’s newest country in July. Negotiations remain over border demarcation, oil rights and the status of the contested region of Abyei.
