* Pan-African body had advocated Sudanese unity
* AU will respect the choice of the people
JUBA, Sudan, Jan 26 (Reuters) - The African Union must be the first body to recognise an independent south Sudan, its chairman said on Wednesday after the region voted in a referendum this month to secede from the north.
Early results showed an overwhelming vote in favour of separation in the Jan. 9 referendum, promised under a 2005 peace deal that ended the continent's longest civil war. The conflict cost 2 million lives and destabilised much of east Africa.
The African Union strongly supported Sudanese unity, fearing secession would create a precedent and spark similar calls from marginalised populations elsewhere in the continent.
Malawian President Bingu wa Mutharika, current AU chairman, said during a visit to the south that the pan-African body would respect the choice of the people of the south.
"Surely it would be useful for us to be the first one to recognise the existence of southern Sudan and then let the others follow," he told reporters in the south's capital, Juba.
"Southern Sudan is a baby of the African Union ... I would be very sad if we came in way, way after everyone else."
Secessionist movements from Somaliland to Cameroon have expressed the hope that south Sudan's independence would give weight to their calls for autonomy. [ID: nHEA851580]
Political analysts have said the AU would treat Sudan as an exception -- as it did Ethiopia and Eritrea's split in 1993 -- and would not tolerate a domino effect across the continent.
International observers said the vote was credible and met global standards, and the north said it would recognise the result.
Preliminary results will be announced on Jan. 30 with the final count due on Feb. 14 if there are any appeals.
Sudan's north-south civil war continued from 1955, fuelled by differences over ethnicity, ideology, religion and oil. (Reporting by Jeremy Clarke; Editing by Opheera McDoom)
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