South Sudan backs independence - results

BBC News Online brings news of the official announcement today of the results from the recent week-long referendum in southern Sudan:

Southern Sudan voted overwhelmingly for independence, election officials have confirmed.

Southern Sudan voted overwhelmingly for independence, election officials have confirmed. They said nearly 99% of the voters in January's referendum were in favour of dividing Africa's biggest country.

Earlier, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir again said he would accept the outcome of the vote. The poll was agreed as part of a 2005 peace agreement ending more than two decades of civil war between the south and north Sudan.

Although the vote was peaceful, tension remains high in parts of the oil-rich border region. At least 50 people were killed over the weekend in fighting between soldiers in south Sudan's Upper Nile state.

On Monday, the Southern Sudan Referendum Commission announced in Khartoum that 98.83% of the voters had backed independence.

"Those who voted for unity were 44,888, that is, 1.17%. Those who voted for separation were 3,792,518, that is, 98.83%," commission head Mohamed Ibrahim Khalil said.

Do read the rest of the article—One new country coming up....!