Washington: World leaders rushed to congratulate Democrat Barack Obama on Wednesday following his historic victory in the 2008 US presidential election.
And across the globe, people in city squares and villages, living rooms and shacks cheered his success, boosting hopes that America's first black commander-in-chief might herald a more conciliatory approach to the rest of the world.
Thousands of people have been posting messages on CNN blogs congratulating Obama and America on the result of the election.
Basimane Bogopa, from Botswana, said: "Americans have shown once again, why they are world leaders. Obama's victory has shown me that the American dream is real, you just have to dream. My heart is filled with joy."
Yvonne Okwara, from Kenya, wrote: "Obama's win is so personal to so many of us, it continues to amaze me. One thing America has taught us today is that true democracy never dies." iReport.com: Share your thoughts on US election
Leading the congratulations by world leaders, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown described a "vital" relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom and said he was excited about the prospect of working with the new US president.
"I know Barack Obama and we share many values," he said. "And I look forward to working extremely closely with him in the coming months and years."
German Chancellor Angela Merkel also offered her congratulations and said she would work with Obama to deal with the challenges facing the world.
"I'm convinced that through a close and trusting cooperation between the United States and Europe we will be able to confront new risks and challenges in a decisive manner and will be able to take advantage of the numerous opportunities that are opening up in our world," Merkel said.
"Rest assured that my government appreciates hugely the meaning and value of the transatlantic relationship for our common future."
Obama met both Brown and Merkel over the summer while on an international trip through Europe and the Middle East and held a huge rally in Berlin that revived memories of President John F. Kennedy's 1963 visit.
PAGE_BREAK
Chinese President Hu Jintao offered similar congratulations, urging Obama to join China in shouldering "important common responsibilities."
"I look forward to endeavor together with you," he said. "To push the Sino-US constructive and cooperative relations to a new level, in order to better benefit our two peoples and the peoples of the world."
Former US Secretary of State Colin Powell said he wept as he watched Obama deliver his victory speech in Chicago's Grant Park.
Powell, in an interview with CNN in Hong Kong, said he believed Obama had the potential to be a great president and asked Americans -- including Republicans -- to get behind Obama.
But, Powell cautioned, the United States still had a long way to go to repair race relations. As he watched Obama talk, Powell said he did not think even for a moment that it could have been him on that stage.
Powell, a retired US general and a Republican, was once seen as a possible presidential candidate himself but endorsed Obama towards the end of the campaign.
"Obama displayed a steadiness. Showed intellectual vigor. He has a definitive way of doing business that will do us well," Powell said Wednesday.
In Kenya, Obama's extended family danced in his ancestral village of Kogelo, chanting, "Barack Obama, Barack Obama is going to the White House."
Obama's grandmother, half-brother and relatives eagerly watched the election results, while in the capital Nairobi, revelers marched and danced through the streets to sirens and whistles, singing Obama's name and carrying and waving American flags.
Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki called Obama's election "a momentous day not only in the history of the United States of America, but also for us in Kenya. The victory of Senator Obama is our own victory because of his roots here in Kenya. As a country, we are full of pride for his success."
PAGE_BREAK
Kibaki declared Thursday a public holiday in honor of Obama's victory.
In Jakarta, Indonesia, where Obama lived with his mother and stepfather in the late 1960s, hundreds of students at his old elementary school poured into the playground and danced in the rain, some chanting "Obama! Obama!" The Associated Press reported.
In the Japanese town bearing Obama's name, jubilation took a few minutes to translate from the group of American teachers to the local crowd, which also cheered "O-ba-ma!" CNN's Kyung Lah blogged.
Obama cakes, chopsticks, T-shirts and kimonos carry an "I (heart) Obama" on them. A band penned a song "Obama is a beautiful world," and a party was about to get under way, Lah said.
Financial markets in Asia were higher Wednesday as traders were hopeful that Obama could successfully tackle the global economic crisis. In Europe though the main markets were down by between 2 and 3 percent.
US futures, which offer an indication of how markets may open when trading begins in New York, were lower. Amid unprecedented turmoil in the financial markets, Wall Street is desperate for an end to the uncertainty that has built up over the two-year campaign.
At an election party in Paris, French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde highlighted the financial crisis as Obama's priority. She told CNN's Jim Bittermann she expected the president-elect to be "clearly involved" in the upcoming financial summit hosted by President George W. Bush.
In an open letter to Obama, French President Nicolas Sarkozy offered "my warmest congratulations, and through me, those of the entire French people."
He said Obama's election raised in France, in Europe and around the world "an immense hope" and that the American people "had expressed with force their faith in progress and the future."
One CNN reader Toby Nevin wrote on a blog: "I stayed up through the night to watch from Paris. What a wonderful moment. It seems that the tide has turned from division and fear towards hope, responsibility and unity.
"Obama is a great leader for a United States of America that deserves him as a guide through these troubled times. Let us all remember our engagement to this spirit of positive change!"
PAGE_BREAK
In two nations where the US is involved in wars, Afghan president Hamid Karzai said the American people have taken "themselves ... and the rest of the world into a new era, the era where race, colour and ethnicity ... will also disappear as a factor in politics in the rest of the world."
Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said: "The Iraqi government has a true desire to work and cooperate with the elected president for the best interest of the two countries to spread security and ensure Iraq's full sovereignty in a way that this will guarantee the interest of Iraqi people."
In addition to the global financial crisis, Obama's challenges include Iran's nuclear ambitions, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and relations with Syria -- challenges the Middle Eastern media have dubbed "the hot files."
In an analysis piece, CNN's Octavia Nasr said most commentators and citizens in the Middle East favored an Obama win. But his inheritance of Bush's policies amid a rise in fundamentalism, longstanding conflicts, and a failing world economy meant "an already full plate ... and that is just one region of the world."
In Hong Kong's financial district, American Chris Exline of Republicans Abroad erupted into a solo applause, as his party's pick John McCain conceded to Obama. He said he was in "absolute shock."
His idea of the change that Obama would bring was in "my dollars ... going to increased taxes."
In Noida (India) , CNN's Sara Sidner said she observed that the US election was not the minute-to-minute preoccupation of most people trying to eke out a daily living.
"Many could care less about it and are worried about the issues they and their country are facing." But CNN partner CNN-IBN was dedicating more than seven hours to the US election, with huge graphic touch screens and commentators -- something unseen by Indian networks to a national election other than their own, Sidner reported.
Comments
0 comment