22.5.06

Montenegro independente

Independence backers celebrated in the streets Sunday after an unofficial group monitoring a referendum predicted victory for Montenegro voters favoring secession from much larger Serbia.

But tensions rose as the anti-independence faction refused to concede defeat and urged their opponents to return to their homes.

Official returns from a referendum asking voters if they wanted to break away from Serbia still hadn't been released hours after polling stations closed.

The independent Center for Monitoring said 55.3 percent of voters opted for independence. If that result is confirmed by official returns, it would write the final chapter in the breakup of the former Yugoslavia.