'Sudan vote passes 60% threshold'

JUBA: More than 60% of voters have already taken part in south Sudan's independence referendum, meaning the result of the vote will now be valid, a senior southern official said on Wednesday. "I know very well that by three days of voting the 60% threshold has been passed," Anne Itto, from the south's ruling Sudan People's Liberation Movement ( SPLM), told reporters in the southern capital Juba.

The commission organising the vote was not immediately able to confirm that the threshold had been achieved.

A week of voting began on Sunday for the referendum, which is expected to see the south emerge as an independent state.