Early results from Southern Sudan's referendum indicate the region has voted overwhelmingly to split from the north and form a new country. Full results of the poll are not due until next month, but the region is widely expected to choose to secede. Southern Sudanese people living in Europe have already voted 97 per cent in favour of a new state. The historic referendum was part of a peace agreement signed with north Sudan in 2005, ending decades of war.Polling stations opened on 9 January and were officially closed yesterday evening. The chairman of the Southern Sudanese Referendum Commission, Mohamed Ibrahim Khalil, has said more than 80 per cent of eligible voters in the south had cast their ballots. He said the referendum would be considered a good result by any international standard. International observers in Southern Sudan have been almost universally optimistic, saying the balloting process has been free and fair.