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.

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  - Bangladesh Finance Ministry Saturday discounted fears that the pullout by India's Tata Group of its 3-billion-dollar investment plan for Bangladesh would affect the flow of foreign direct investments to the resource starved country.

Finance Advisor Mirza Azizul Islam, who is the de facto finance minister in the interim government, said the decision by the Indian investment group to take their money elsewhere would not create an adverse impact on the level of foreign investments.

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.