South Sudan votes 98.83 percent to secede: official

KHARTOUM: Final results posted by the South Sudan Referendum Commission on Monday confirmed that 98.83 percent of southerners backed secession in last month's historic independence vote.

The results, posted on screens at an announcement ceremony in Khartoum, showed that, out of the 3,837,406 valid votes cast, only 44,888 ballots, or 1.17 percent, supported the status quo of unity with the north.