JUBA: Close to 99 percent of south Sudanese chose to secede from the north in a January 9-15 referendum, according to the first complete preliminary results published Sunday.

Updated figures published on the Southern Sudan Referendum Commission's website and accounting for 100 percent of ballots cast in both the north and the south gave secession an overwhelming 98.83 percent of the vote.

The results were expected to be confirmed Sunday by commission officials during an official ceremony attended by president Salva Kiir in the southern capital Juba.