JUBA, South Sudan, Oct. 31 (UPI) -- A referendum to determine which Sudanese government would control the disputed border region of Abyei favored South Sudan, an official said Thursday.
Luka Biong Deng, a spokesman for the Abyei referendum, confirmed to the independent Sudan Tribune less than 1 percent of those taking part in the two-day vote chose to side with the Sudanese government.
Abyei's status was to be determined in the 2011 referendum for an independent South Sudan. Decisions over who could take part in the Abyei referendum delayed the vote.
The vote was considered illegal by some observers and only one of the regional tribes, Ngok Dinka, took part in what was considered a unilateral measure.
Deng Alor, director of an Abyei referendum committee, told the Sudan Tribune this week the vote went ahead because African negotiators were taking too long to settle the issue.
The newspaper said Thursday the vote, conducted this week, was peaceful. The Misseriya tribe, allied with Khartoum, said it was planning its own referendum on Abyei.
