20110117
reuters

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - International observers gave south Sudan's independence referendum their seal of approval on Monday and said a vote for secession was now "virtually certain" in their first official judgment on the poll.

Early results from last week's plebiscite suggest people from Sudan's oil-producing south overwhelming voted to split away from the north after decades of civil war.

Observers from the Carter Center and the European Union both said the vote had been credible, an endorsement that moved the region a step closer to independence.

"The European Union election observation mission assess the voting process of the Southern Sudan Referendum credible and well-organised in a mostly peaceful environment," a preliminary statement seen by Reuters said.

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter's mission said a number of irregularities had not undermined the legitimacy of the referendum, which hopes to end a violent cycle of bitter north- south conflict in Africa's largest country.

"The (Carter) Center finds that the referendum process to date is broadly consistent with international standards for democratic elections and represents the genuine expression of the will of the electorate," its statement read.

In the southern capital Juba, six centres each had more than 2,500 votes for secession compared to a maximum of just 25 votes for unity.

Around 97 percent of southerners voting in Egypt chose separation, compared with just 2 percent for unity, the poll's organising commission said on Monday.