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S. Ossetia votes for split

TSKHINVALI (Georgia): Voters in the breakaway Georgian province of South Ossetia overwhelmingly backed its independence drive in a referendum result on Monday that strengthened Russia's hand in its standoff with U.S.-backed Georgia. South Ossetia's separatist leaders are seeking eventually to join neighbouring Russia, which is locked in a bitter diplomatic dispute with Western-leaning Georgia and is accused by Georgia of seeking to annex the province, along with another breakaway region, Abkhazia. On Monday, South Ossetian election officials, citing preliminary results, said 99 per cent of voters in Sunday's referendum had approved independence for the tiny Caucasus Mountains province, which split off from Georgia in a bloody 1990s war. The vote will not change South Ossetia's status because Georgia does not recognise it as legitimate. A similar plebiscite in 1992 was not recognised by any country, and the United States and Western European countries said they would not recognise this one either. — AP

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