UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Monday the people of Southern Sudan have chosen independence and commended the northern Sudanese government in Khartoum for respecting that decision, dpa reported.
"The peaceful and credible conduct of the referendum is a great achievement for all Sudanese," Ban said.
The electoral commission published on Monday official results of the January 15-21 vote, showing that 98.83 per cent of the nearly 4 million registered voters had opted for independence from Khartoum.
In Khartoum, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir acknowledged the results and pledged to abide by them.
Ban urged both Khartoum and the government of Southern Sudan "to build on the momentum generated by the successful conduct of the referendum to reach an agreement on post-referendum arrangements, including Abyei, expeditiously and in the same spirit of cooperation."
Abyei, an oil-rich border region between north and south Sudan, failed to hold its own referendum and talks were underway to solve the problem.