98.83% of South Sudan’s people vote for succession

Southern Sudan was well on track to become the world's newest state on Monday after final results of its historic independence referendum showed that 98.83 percent of its people had voted for succession.
 
The results - displayed at an announcement ceremony in Khartoum - revealed that, out of 3,837,406 valid ballots cast, only 44,888 votes, or 1.17 percent, favored the status quo of unity with the north.
  
The definitive outcome of the January 9-15 referendum emerged soon after Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir said Khartoum accepted the south's widely anticipated landslide vote for sovereignty.
  
"We respect the people of south Sudan's choice and we accept the result of the referendum according to what the commission announces," the Sudanese leadership said in a statement broadcast on state television. "South Sudan has chosen secession. But we are committed to the links between the north and the south, and we are committed to good relations based on cooperation," Bashir himself said earlier, in a speech at the headquarters of his ruling National Congress Party.
  
The referendum defied expectations by taking place on time and largely without incident, despite the major logistical challenges facing the organizers and fears that the Khartoum government might try to block a process certain to split Africa's largest nation in two.
  
The final results came one week after preliminary results showed almost 99 percent of south Sudanese choosing to split with the north.
  
Speaking to the cabinet after the presidential declaration, Kiir praised Bashir and promised cooperation with the north after the south becomes independent in July. "If President Bashir and the NCP have been consistent in implementing the (peace) agreement, we want to do other things to show that what was done has been appreciated," he said. "The (freedom) of the south is not the end of the road, because we cannot be enemies. We must build strong relations ... (as) there are many things that connect the north and the south," Kiir added.