June 3, 2006	Saturday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 6, 1427

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BERLIN, June 2: The media centre next to the stadium set to host the World Cup final was evacuated Friday when a World War II explosive was found on the grounds.

A gardener at the Olympiastadion reported a suspicious device about 30 meters (yards) from the stadium, which will host the July 9 final.

The 7-centimeter (3-inch) fuse was said to be from a flack gun used by German soldiers in the defense of the city 61 years ago.

The centre was evacuated for about 1 1/2 hours while the fuse was removed, although a stadium spokesman said it had never posed a danger to those nearby.

With the sun emerging during another unseasonably cold day in the German capital, journalists and officials staged impromptu games of soccer while they waited to return to work.

''Last week we had the winter, this week we have a bomb,'' stadium spokesman Hans-Georg Felder said. ''In Berlin, it's never boring.''

Felder said such finds were not unusual in Berlin, which withstood sustained bombardment from Soviet and Allied troops before the official surrender of German troops in May 1945. The World Cup starts June 9.—AP