BERLIN - AROUND the world, throngs packed plazas and pubs to await US elections results on Tuesday, many inspired by Mr Barack Obama's promise of change amid a sense of relief that - no matter who wins - the White House is changing hands.

As millions of American voters decided between Mr Barack Obama or Mr John McCain, the world was abuzz, ready to bear witness to a moment of history that would reverberate well beyond American borders.

'America is electing a new president, but for the Germans, for Europeans, it is electing the next world leader', said Mr Alexander Rahr, director of the German Council on Foreign Relations.

In Kenya, Mr Obama's ancestral homeland, the atmosphere was electric with pride and excitement as people flocked to all-night parties to watch election results roll in.

'Tonight we are not going to sleep,' said Valentine Wambi, 23, a student at the University of Nairobi who was joining hundreds of others at an election party. 'It will be celebrations throughout.'

The Irish village of Moneygall was also trying to claim Mr Obama as a favourite son - based on research that concluded the candidate's great-great-great grandfather, Joseph Kearney, lived there before emigrating to the United States.

At Moneygall's Hayes Bar, an American flag fluttered outside window Tuesday and local band Hardy Drew and the Nancy Boys played their rousing folk song 'There's No One as Irish as Barack Obama'. 'We're not going to go mad with the drink', said Mr Ollie Hayes, who runs the pub.

'We just want to show Barack that we appreciate he's from here, to have some finger food and watch the early results.'

Scores of US voters living in the Mexican state of Baja California crossed the border to cast their vote, including Mr Roberto Chavez, 32, an engineer who has dual citizenship.

'Usually I only vote in Mexican elections because I live here, but I'm going to vote in this election because I want Obama to win,' he said.

In Germany, where more than 200,000 people flocked to see Mr 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.

In Paris, among the festivities planned was a 'Goodbye George' party to bid farewell to President George W. Bush.

'Like many French people, I would like Obama to win because it would really be a sign of change,' Ms Vanessa Doubine said on Tuesday as she shopped on the Champs-Elysees.

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.

The Bush administration alienated Muslims by mistreating prisoners at its detention centre for terrorism suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and inmates at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison - human rights violations also condemned worldwide.

'I hope Obama wins (because) of the need of the world to see the US represent a more cosmopolitan or universal political attitude,' said Mr Rais Yatim, the foreign minister of mostly Muslim Malaysia.

mr Nizar al-Kortas, a columnist for Kuwait's Al-Anbaa newspaper, saw an Obama victory as 'a historic step to change the image of the arrogant American administration.'

Yet Mr McCain enjoyed a strong current of support in countries such as Israel, where he is perceived as tougher on Iran than Mr Obama.

Israeli leaders, who consider the US their closest and most important ally, have not openly declared a preference.

But privately, they have expressed concern about Mr Obama, who has said he would be ready to hold a dialogue with Teheran.

Taking a cigarette break on a Jerusalem street corner, bank employee Leah Nizri, 53, favoured Mr McCain.

'He's too young,' she said of Mr Obama. 'I think that especially in a situation of a world recession, where things are so unclear in the world, McCain would be better than Obama.'

Even in Europe, Mr McCain got some grudging respect: Germany's mass-circulation daily Bild lionised the Republican as 'the War Hero' and running mate Sarah Palin as 'the Beautiful Unknown'.

In Berlin, Republicans Abroad organised a 'November Surprise Election Party' to watch live 'how the Republican ticket McCain/Palin comes from behind and leaves the 'liberal elite media' in Europe and the United States puzzled'.

Some Europeans made much of Mr Obama's ethnicity. 'It would be fantastic to have a non-white president', said Ms Letisha Brown, a Londoner.

More than 1,000 people jammed into the US embassy in central London waiting for the first returns to be shown on a dozen specially placed TV screens.

The crowd included ambassadors, British politicians and many Americans sporting buttons that read 'I Voted'. Some people dressed like the Statue of Liberty, while others wore evening gowns and formal wear.

In the sleepy Japanese coastal town of Obama - which translates as 'little beach' - images of him adorned banners along a main shopping street, and preparations for an election day victory party were in full swing.

Election fever also ran high in Vietnam, where Mr McCain was held as a prisoner of war for more than five years after being shot down in Hanoi during a 1967 bombing run.

'He's patriotic,' said Mr Le Lan Anh, a Vietnamese novelist. 'As a soldier, he came here to destroy my country, but I admire his dignity.' -- AP