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MONACO, Friday (Reuters)

IAAF evaluators have inspected half the six cities bidding to host the 2005 world athletics championships in place of London, which was forced to withdraw as the venue last year.

Berlin, Brussels and Rome have already been inspected by the commission, led by IAAF vice president Lou Dapeng, with Helsinki, Moscow and Budapest to be evaluated after this weekend's world cross country championships in Dublin.

"We have a mandate to gather detailed information and first hand impressions, but can also help each city improve their bid by pointing out areas where they can improve," Lou said in a statement on Thursday.

London was forced to withdraw as host city when the British government shelved a plan to build a new stadium last October.

"Last year, when London pulled out of the World Championships I was bitterly disappointed," IAAF president Lamine Diack said. "However, today I am extremely positive because the interest of these six major cities shows how attractive our world championships has become." 

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