Dhaka - Candidates backed by the former ruling Awami League party were set for a thumping victory in local elections in Bangladesh, a spokesman for the national Election Commission said Tuesday.

In the limited local polls in four cities and nine towns candidates supported by the Awami League swept to victory, Election Commission sources said.

Badruddin Ahmad Kamran was elected mayor in Sylhet city in north-eastern Bangladesh, officials said.

The election, hailed as a first step to restore democracy by the army-backed national caretaker government, was the first since a state of emergency was declared in Bangladesh last year.

Dhaka - Thousands of Bangladeshi voters queued Monday in front of heavily guarded polling stations in four cities and nine towns to elect mayors in a landmark move to strengthen local governments, officials said.

The election, hailed as a first step to restore democracy by the army-backed national caretaker government, is the first since a state of emergency was declared in Bangladesh last year.

General elections, which were postponed after last year's violence, are now scheduled for December.

Voting in the four cities - Sylhet, Khulna, Rajshahi and Barisal - as well the nine towns started at 8 am (0200 GMT).

Dhaka, Aug 2 : At least 1800 Bangladeshis have been deported from Gulf States and Saudi Arabia.

Dhaka Airport officials claimed that nearly 170 Bangladeshi workers returned home from Kuwait on Friday, complaining that they had been beaten and expelled after taking part in a rare labour protest in the Gulf state.

Another batch of nearly 250 Bangladeshis flew back to Dhaka from Saudi Arabia on Friday saying they also had been summarily expelled.

Dhaka - Political parties in Bangladesh began last-minute campaigning Friday in limited local polls scheduled for next week after a High Court bench quashed a ruling by the Election Commission curbing their participation in mayoral polls, officials said.

The High Court, however, upheld the August 4 scheduled holding of local polls in four cities and nine small municipalities set earlier by the Election Commission.

Colombo, Aug. 1: Senior officials accompanying the Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed, the head of Bangladesh's interim government, today said here that elections would take place between December 21 and 23.

They also confirmed that 85 million biometric cards have already been issued. Bangladesh has a total population of 150,448,339 as of July 2007.

If the election does take place, it will be after 23 months of military-backed civilian emergency rule.

The interim government has vowed to hold free, fair and credible elections before the end of 2008.

The United States has been exerting pressure on the Government of Bangladesh to restore democracy.