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Sudan's 'Obama' barber shop open for business

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-01-21 11:10

KHARTOUM – Sudanese men can now get a haircut and a shave at a tiny barber shop named Barack Obama in tribute to the man being sworn in as US president on Tuesday, despite strained ties between Khartoum and Washington.

A Sudanese man passes by a barber shop dedicated to US president-elect Barack Obama in a market street in Khartoum on January 17. Sudanese men can now get a haircut and a shave at a tiny barber shop named Barack Obama in tribute to the man being sworn in as US president, despite strained ties between Khartoum and Washington. [Agencies]

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A huge portrait of Obama with his name written in Arabic has been propped up outside the barber shop in north Khartoum's Markizi, or central, market.

"I opened the shop just before the US presidential election in November but I waited for Obama's victory before naming it after the president-elect," barber shop owner Muntasser Jacob told AFP.

"If the Republican John McCain had won the election I would not have named my shop after him," Jacob said.

Sudan has been on Washington's list of state sponsors of terrorism since 1993 and subject to US economic sanctions since 1997.

But Khartoum welcomed Obama's election saying it hoped his tenure would inject "real change" into the largely strained relations with Washington.

Obama, the first black president in the history of the United States, enjoys huge popularity in Sudan, Africa's largest nation.