PARIS (AFP) – Revered international statesman Nelson Mandela led a near-global welcome for new U.S. President Barack Obama.

Mandela, who led the fight against South Africa's apartheid regime and is probably the world's most respected human rights advocate, called the first black US president a “new voice of hope”.
“We believe that we are witnessing something truly historic not only in the political annals of your great nation, the United States of America, but of the world,” the Nobel Peace Prize winner wrote in a letter to Obama.
“Your presidency brings hope of new beginnings in the relations between nations, that the challenges we all face, be they economic, the environment, or in combating poverty or the search for peace, will be addressed with a new spirit of openness and accommodation,” wrote Mandela.