Africa, and world, celebrate Obama victory

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

　　Africa

　　"If it were possible for me to get to the United States on my bicycle, I would," said Joseph Ochieng, a 36-year-old carpenter who lives in Kenya's sprawling Kibera shantytown.

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

　　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. A group of exuberant residents picked up the president-elect's half brother Malik and carried him through the village.

　　"Unbelievable!" Malik Obama shouted, "Obama's coming, make way!"

　　Nelson Mandela, South Africa's first black president, said Obama gave 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 she did not expect to see a black American president in her lifetime.

　　"All Africans now know that if you persevere, all things are possible," she said.

　　In the New Nyanza provincial general hospital in Kisumu, the capital of the region which is home to Barack Obama's ancestral village, a woman gave birth to twins she named Obama and Michelle.

　　At least eight other boys were named Barack or Obama in this hospital alone while maternities in the capital Nairobi and across the entire country reported new namesakes for the future occupants of the White House.

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