[jQuery] Problem with SELECT OPTIONS selected item

[jQuery] Problem with SELECT OPTIONS selected item


function(json){
$('#region').empty();
for(var i = 0; i < json.length; i++)
{
    $('#region').append('<option value="'+ json[i].id +'">' +
json[i].name + '</option>');
}
$('#region').prepend('<option value="x"
selected="selected">'+defaultSelectRegion +'</
option>').removeAttr('disabled');
});
Above is a code generating a select options from json data retrieved
from ajax request.
I am tryin' to populate options with the first default value selected.
on FF it works just fine, but IE, IE selects the last json data as
selected.
var opts = '<option value="x" selected="selected">' +
defaultSelectRegion + '</option>';
function(json){
$('#region').empty();
for(var i = 0; i < json.length; i++)
{
    opts += '<option value="'+ json[i].id +'">' + json[i].name + '</
option>';
}
$('#region').html(opts).removeAttr('disabled');
});
Second example work fine with IE but FF give the same result as in 1st
example IE.
Any idea?