Citizens around the world hail the Obama victory

LONDON -- From Beijing's streets to France's Elysee Palace, common citizens and leaders of the world greeted Barack Obama's election largely as a sign of hope that America would mend torn international relations and lead the way out of global economic turmoil.

"I am so happy Obama won," said Mao Xiaoqing, 21, an economics student in Beijing. "I think he will take some creative actions about the economic crisis. It's the main problem for America and the rest of the world."

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Obama's election "has raised enormous hope in France, in Europe and beyond."

"France and Europe … will find a new energy to work with America to achieve peace and world prosperity," Sarkozy said.

Many people were pleased that Americans would elect a black man to the most powerful post in the world. They are aware of the USA's history of racial division, and many live in countries where minorities have a slim chance of gaining access to the top office.

Beijing taxi driver Tao Qingcai is one.

"I am happy to see a minority become president," he said. "It could reduce racial prejudice in the USA. But I cannot see a minority becoming leader of China. We don't have real democracy here."

"It shows that America truly is a diverse, multicultural society where the color of your skin really does not matter," said Jason Ge, an international relations student at Peking University in China.

Obama's popularity had reached rock star status across a globe long before Tuesday.

In Germany, where more than 200,000 people flocked to see Obama this summer as he burnished his foreign policy credentials during a trip to the Middle East and Europe, the election dominated television ticker crawls, newspaper headlines and websites.

Obama-mania was evident not only across Europe but also in much of the Islamic world, where Muslims expressed hope that the Democrat would seek compromise rather than confrontation.

Much of the world had grown weary of eight years of President Bush, U.S. unilateral military action symbolized by the war in Iraq that marked his first term. They also are fearful and drained by a growing economic crisis that began 15 months ago in the USA and swept across continents with a vengeance two months ago.