John Leicester, Associated Press Writer

Kenyans in Kisumu, western Kenya, on Wednesday, celebrate the victory of President-elect Barack Obama in the American presidential election. Obama's Kenyan relatives and Africans across the continent celebrated his victory, staying up all night or waking before dawn to cheer in America's first black president.

PARIS (AP):

The election of Barack Obama as the first black man in the White House unleashed a global tide of admiration, hopes for change, and even renewed love for the United States after eight years of dwindling goodwill during the Bush administration.

In Europe, some likened Obama's stunning ascent to power to Neil Armstrong's first steps on the moon, the release of Nelson Mandela and the fall of the Berlin Wall as a turning point for humanity.

The president of Kenya declared a public holiday in Obama's honour, and people across Africa stayed up all night or woke before dawn Wednesday to watch United States election history being made.

In London, a young boy on his way to school punched the air and cried 'OB-A-MA! OB-A-MA!' In the town of Obama, Japan, dancers cheered in delight when their namesake's victory was declared.

Sobering concerns

Yet, celebrations were often also tempered by sobering concerns that a 47-year-old man with limited experience of government faces global challenges as momentous as the hopes his campaign inspired - wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the nuclear ambitions of Iran, the elusive hunt for peace in the Middle East and a global economy in turmoil.

In the Muslim world, skepticism remained high that Obama would make much difference. Many elsewhere expressed hope for a more balanced, less confrontational America, but said they also expect Obama to put US interests first.

As they savoured the moment, some people were prepared to temporarily forget the difficulties ahead for Obama and even forgive American voters for the Bush years, when US ties with many countries grew strained. In countries where the idea of a minority member being elected leader is unthinkable, people expressed amazement and satisfaction that the United States overcame centuries of racial strife to elect an African-American president - and one with Hussein as a middle name. Some said that US voters had blazed a trail that minorities elsewhere could follow.

"This is the fall of the Berlin Wall times 10," Rama Yade, France's black junior minister for human rights, told French radio. "America is rebecoming a New World."

"On this morning, we all want to be American so we can take a bite of this dream unfolding before our eyes," she said.

Giant leap for mankind

In Britain, The Sun newspaper borrowed from Armstrong's 1969 moon landing to describe Obama's election as "one giant leap for mankind."

In Rio, Brazilians partied on the beach. Akihiko Mukohama, the lead singer of a band that travelled to Obama, Japan, to perform, gushed that Obama's election "is going to change the world." In Indonesia, where Obama lived as a child, hundreds of students at his former elementary school cheered when he was declared winner and poured into the courtyard where they hugged each other, danced in the rain and chanted "Obama! Obama!"

"What an inspiration. He is the first truly global US president the world has ever had," said Pracha Kanjananont, a 29-year-old Thai sitting at a Starbuck's in Bangkok. "He had an Asian childhood, African parentage and has a Middle Eastern name. He is a truly global president."

Antidote to anger

Hopes were high that Obama would act as an antidote to the anger felt towards Bush, perceived by many as a go-it-alone president who ignored international opposition in going to war in Iraq. Many said they expected that an Obama victory would herald a more inclusive, internationally cooperative US approach.

Many cited the Iraq war as a type of blunder Obama was unlikely to repeat. Callers to French radio RTL said how pleased they were to see Bush leave and Obama arrive.

"We hated Bush so much and we wanted so much to love America - and now, again, we can," said Dominique Moisi, one of France's foremost foreign policy analysts.

Europe, where Obama is overwhelmingly popular, is one region that looked eagerly to an Obama administration for a revival in warm relations.

"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 congratulations letter to Obama.

Poland's Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski spoke of "a new America with a new credit of trust in the world".

The magnitude and emotion of the world reaction illustrated the international character of the US presidency. It also showed how many still look to Washington as the place where global issues of war and peace, prosperity or crisis, are decided.

"This is an enormous outcome for all of us," said John Wood, the former New Zealand ambassador to the US. "We have to hope and pray that President Obama can move forward in ways which are constructive and beneficial to all of us."

Skepticism, however, was high in the Muslim world, where the Bush administration alienated many with the Iraq war, the treatment of prisoners at the US detention centre for terrorism suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and inmates at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison.

Some Iraqis said they would believe positive change when they saw it.

"Obama's victory will do nothing for the Iraqi issue nor for the Palestinian issue," said Muneer Jamal, a Baghdad resident. "I think all the promises Obama made during the campaign will remain mere promises."

In Pakistan, a country vital to the US-led war on the al-Qaida terrorist network and neighbour to Afghanistan, many hoped Obama would bring some respite from rising militant violence that many blame on Bush.

Still, Mohammed Arshad, a 28-year-old schoolteacher in the capital, Islamabad, doubted Obama's ability to change US foreign policy dramatically.

"It is true that Bush gave America a very bad name. He has become a symbol of hate. But I don't think the change of face will suddenly make any big difference," he said.

Obama also faced skepticism on the other side of the Mideast divide, in Israel.

Shoshana Bair, 27, an Orthodox Jewish woman who runs a medical not-for-profit group in Jerusalem, was fearful that Obama's allegiance would lie with the Palestinians and that Israel would be pushed into "land concessions without receiving anything in return, and the division of Jerusalem", the holy city that both Jews and Palestinians claim as their capital.

The economy is another challenge of international concern. Many expressed hope that Obama would help reverse the punishing financial meltdown and said they expected that fixing the US economy would be his first priority. But some in Asia, a region heavily dependent on exports to the US market, worried the Democrat would try to protect American producers at their expense.

The huge weight of responsibilities on Obama's shoulders was also a worry for some. French former Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin said Obama's biggest challenge would be managing a punishing agenda of various crises in the United States and the world. "He will need to fight on every front," he said.

Still, many around the world found Obama's international roots compelling and attractive. That a country where blacks were segregated when Obama was a child now voted him into power was an inspiration to many beyond US shores.

The leader of Nigeria, Africa's most-populous nation, hailed the dawn of "a totally and completely new era".

Obama's election, said President Umaru Yar'Adua, "has finally broken the greatest barrier of prejudice in human history".

AP correspondents worldwide contributed to this report.

Obama Girls, a hula dance group formed in honour of Obama's Hawaiian heritage, perform hula to celebrate Barack Obama's victory in the United States presidential election in Obama, western Japan, on Wednesday. Obama had been elected US president and the citizens of Obama were ecstatic. - ap photos