South Sudan has reached the 60 per cent turnout needed to pass the referendum on secession from the north. The south's ruling party, Sudan Peoples' Liberation Movement and ex-rebel group says, the 60 per cent threshold has been achieved but we are asking for a 100 per cent turnout. The SPLM's Anne Itto did not give exact figures, but said it was based on polling centre reports for the first three days of the week-long vote which began on Sunday. The poll was agreed as part of the 2005 deal to end the two-decade civil war. Official turnout figures are not expected until the beginning of February. The vote, in which only southerners are taking part, is widely expected to approve secession. If the referendum is passed, Southern Sudan would become Africa's 54th nation on 9 July 2011.