Baghdad - People heading to work in Baghdad on Wednesday morning knew that this day was different than any other; it was the morning after the first black president, Barack Obama, was elected.

While parents were dropping their kids off at school or rushing to work, a feeling of optimism spread on the street. Iraqis, who blame President George Bush for the chaos in their country since the fall of Saddam Hussein, were anticipating how a black Democrat president will "fix things in Iraq".

"We are fed up with the policies of Bush and hope that Obama is the person to save the US and fix the situation here," said Intessar Salem, hailing the US people for breaking the stereotype and electing a man with African origins.

"Let's see how a black man will lead the US. He might be better than his white predecessors," the 41-old teacher told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

Even if the people are not very familiar with the details of Obama's policies towards their country, it seems that not only Salem is optimistic towards the Democrat president-elect. Mohamed Khalil, a civil servant felt relieved after watching Obama's victory speech.

"He was calm as he spoke to the audience. I did not find the intimidating and threatening words that I used to hear from Bush," said Khalil, who perceived this as a change in the US policy to be implemented in the near future.

"Here in Iraq, we need a new US model to replace the Bush era that was humiliating for the Iraqi people," Khalil added.

However, optimism is mixed with caution. Believing that the "Americans have fixed little in their policies and that Obama will abide by the main non-changing rules", Sabah Mahdi says people should not immediately hail the man and ask him to change things in a record time.

"I don't want to be shocked later if Obama turns out to be the same as Bush or even worse, and then wish to be able to turn back the clock," said the 45-year-old taxi driver.

Just like Mahdi, the head of the Iraqi Presidential Council rejected the idea that quick or deep change will take place in the US policies towards Iraq.

"Obama's victory was expected. Moreover the US policy does not change, only the technique in implementing it does," Naseer al-Ani told dpa.

"Iraqis would cling to anyone who seems to do things that are for their country's interest. Yet, all that was heard from Senator Obama was part of his election campaign. We have to wait and see what comes next," al-Ani added.

Still, a positive feeling prevails. Not only the man on the street waits for the 'change' Obama promised in his campaign, but also lawmakers does with a belief that Obama's win would have a positive impact on the security situation in Iraq and to correct mistakes committed by Bush since the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq.

"Obama's victory is a real change in US policy and opens a new chapter in the relations between the US and the region," said Osama Najifi, a member of the Iraqi parliament.

"The Iraqi government views this change as an opportunity to discuss the timetable for the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq," he said.

During his campaign, Obama said he would like to see the 140,000 US troops stationed in Iraq withdraw from Iraq by mid-2010.

As lawmakers expressed their optimism for a change, the Iraqi government announced their official welcome for Obama and its "respect for the choice of the American people."

"The government wants to cooperate with president-elect Obama to achieve the interest of both countries and ensures the country's sovereignty," Ali al-Dabbagh, the government spokesman was quoted as saying in a statement on Wednesday. (dpa)