JUBA: South Sudanese voted overwhelmingly to declare independence from the north in a referendum, according to officials in seven out of the region's ten states polled by Reuters on Wednesday. The preliminary reports confirm widely held expectations of the result of last week's plebiscite, the climax of a 2005 peace deal that ended decades of north-south civil war. Referendum officials reported large votes in favor of independence — some releasing early figures, some saying trends pointed to support of more than 90 percent — in the southern states of Central Equatoria, Unity, Lakes, Jonglei, Warrap, Western Bahr Al-Ghazal and Eastern Equatoria. Officials did not release figures or give any indications in the states of Western Equatoria and Upper Nile while no one immediately answered calls in Northern Bahr Al-Ghazal. Official results are not expected to be announced until early February. Southern leaders have urged people from the oil-producing region not to hold premature celebrations and to wait for the final figures.
