BELGRADE, May 23 (Xinhua) -- A total of 55.5 percent of Montenegrin voters supported the Balkan republic's independence from the state union of Serbia-Montenegro, the complete preliminary results of the referendum showed Tuesday.

    "A total of 55.5 percent of the citizens voted for an independent Montenegro, while 44.5 percent voted for the common state," Frantisek Lipka, president of the Republican Referendum Commission in Montenegro, told a press conference in Podgorica.

    The turnout in Sunday's referendum was 86.49 percent, said Lipka, adding that the final results would be released in 72 hours depending on objections to the preliminary results.

    Under conditions mediated by the European Union, the independence will not be valid unless the referendum passes the threshold of 55 percent of votes with a turnout of at least half of the mountainous republic's 484,718 registered voters.

    Monitored by some 3,400 foreign and local observers, Montenegro's voters cast their ballots from 8:00 a.m. (0600 GMT) to 9:00 p.m. (1900 GMT) on Sunday at 1,120 polling stations.

    Lipka said he had not received requests for re-counting.

    Serbia-Montenegro, which was renamed from the Yugoslav federal republic in February 2003, is a loose union with only limited ministries of foreign affairs, defense and human rights. The two republics have different laws, customs, currencies and border services. Enditem