A world of hope greets Obama's election

NAIROBI, Kenya - For many across Africa and the world, Barack Obama's election seals America's reputation as a land of staggering opportunity.

"If it were possible for me to get to the United States on my bicycle, I would," said Joseph Ochieng, 36, a carpenter who lives in Kenya's sprawling Kibera shantytown, a maze of tin-roofed shacks and dirt roads.

Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki declared a public holiday today in the country of Obama's late father, allowing celebrations to continue through the night and into a second day.

From Europe and Asia to the Middle East, many expressed amazement that the United States could overcome centuries of racial strife and elect an African American president.

Scenes of jubilation broke out in the western Kenya village of Kogelo, where many of Obama's Kenyan relatives still live. People sang, danced in the streets, and wrapped themselves in U.S. flags. Exuberant residents picked up the president-elect's half brother, Malik, and carried him through the village.

"Unbelievable!" Malik Obama shouted, leading the family in chanting, "Obama's coming, make way!"

Tributes rolled in from two of Africa's groundbreaking leaders. Nelson Mandela, South Africa's first black president, said Obama had given the world the courage to dream.

"Your victory has demonstrated that no person anywhere in the world should not dare to dream of wanting to change the world for a better place," Mandela said in a letter of congratulations.

Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf - the first woman elected to head an African country - said that she had not expected to see a black U.S. president in her lifetime but that "all Africans now know that if you persevere, all things are possible."

In Indonesia, where Obama lived as a child, hundreds of students at his former elementary school erupted in cheers when he was declared the winner, pouring into the courtyard where they danced in the rain, hugged and chanted: "Obama! Obama!"

In Britain, the Sun newspaper borrowed from Neil Armstrong's 1969 moon landing in calling Obama's election "one giant leap for mankind." British Prime Minister Gordon Brown congratulated Obama for "energizing politics with his progressive values and his vision for the future."

Yet celebrations often were tempered by sobering concerns that Obama faces momentous global challenges - wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the nuclear ambitions of Iran, the elusive hunt for Mideast peace, and a financial crisis.

Europe, where Obama is overwhelmingly popular, looked eagerly to his administration for a revival in warm relations after the Bush administration's chilly rift with much of the continent over the Iraq war.

"At a time when we have to confront immense challenges together, your election raises great hopes in France, in Europe and in the rest of the world," French President Nicolas Sarkozy said in a congratulatory letter to Obama.

In China, President Hu Jintao said he looked forward to working with Obama to "continuously strengthen dialogue and exchanges between our two countries."

From the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI sent Obama a personal note, saying he would pray for God's blessings on the American people and on the president-elect after his historic victory.

Skepticism was high in the Muslim world. The Bush administration alienated much of the Mideast by mistreating prisoners at its detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison.

"It's the same politics," said Akram Abdel Fatah, 18, from the northern Israeli Arab village of Kawkab, who has dual U.S. citizenship but did not vote. "He may change some things in America, maybe in Iraq, but the Palestinian case is really hard to solve."

Hawkish Israelis feared that Obama would be more sympathetic to Palestinians and push for the division of Jerusalem in a peace deal.

But Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni called Obama's election "a mark of merit for American democracy" and said Israelis had been impressed during his summer visit to the country "by his commitment to the peace and security of Israel."

In Iran, Ali Akbar Javanfekr, media adviser to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, said Iranians welcomed the possibility of new policies from Obama. "His slogan was change. We too believe that change is an inevitable requirement," he told the state-run Al-Alam news channel.

And many around the world found hope in Obama's international roots.

"What an inspiration," said Pracha Kanjananont, 29, a Thai sitting at a Starbucks in Bangkok. "He is the first truly global U.S. president the world has ever had."