By Adekunle Aliyu with Agency Report

Final results of last month’s referendum show an overwhelming majority of southern Sudanese voted to split from the north, a result that will lead to the creation of the world’s newest nation, the referendum commission said Monday.

The chairman of the Southern Sudan Referendum Commission, which organized the vote and includes members from both sides, said 98.83% voted for separation, while 1.17% voted for unity.

“It was a peaceful process,” said chairman Muhammad Ibrahim Khalil at a ceremony in Khartoum attended by Sudanese politicians, international diplomats, U.N. staff, academics and others. “It was a transparent process.”

“Not a single person” showed up to appeal the results, he said. Preliminary results had shown overwhelming support for separation.

The commission met Monday with Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and First Vice President Salva Kiir to present the final results, state TV reported earlier.

Al-Bashir has stated his commitment to the results and said he will accept them, state TV said.

As a result of the government’s acceptance of the results, the United States is beginning the process of removing Sudan from its list of state sponsors of terrorism, U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said Monday.

U.S. President Barack Obama announced Washington’s intention to recognize Southern Sudan as a sovereign, independent state in July, when a comprehensive peace agreement with the north is due to end.

“After decades of conflict, the images of millions of southern Sudanese voters deciding their own future was an inspiration to the world and another step forward in Africa’s long journey toward justice and democracy,” Obama said in a statement. “Now, all parties have a responsibility to ensure that this historic moment of promise becomes a moment of lasting progress. The Comprehensive Peace Agreement must be fully implemented and outstanding disputes must be resolved peacefully.”

Obama promised the United States would support the governments of both Sudan and Southern Sudan to ensure a smooth and peaceful transition to independence.

“It is a happy day for southern Sudanese,” said Louis Makor, 40, an activist from the south. “We have gained our rights, our self-determination, and I hope the best for both southern and northern Sudanese. And we will remain brothers.”

Those in the north had more varied opinions.

“I think it is better,” said Abd al-Aziz Ahmad, 30, a grocery store owner. “They can have their own country and our problem in the north will lessen.”

Northerner Al-Razy Yassin, 27, however, said he felt very sad about the outcome.

“I believed that our strength is in our diversity,” he said. “This means the failure of the Sudanese national state and I fear what might come.”

There were tears on the face of Ikhlas Garang, a woman who is half northern and half southern, who cried, “Why are we separating? Why are we separating?”

Sudan’s north and south fought a war for more than two decades, finally ending in a peace treaty in 2005 that paved the way for the referendum. The conflict, which left 2 million people dead, pitted a government dominated by Arab Muslims in northern Sudan against black Christians and animists in the south.

From CNN