Bangladesh`s army-backed government said Wednesday it would not change the date for next month`s elections despite a threat from a major political force to boycott polls unless they were delayed.

Three ministers from Bangladesh`s last elected government, including the head of the largest Islamic party, were freed Sunday, a prison official said, just a month before the country goes to polls.

Motiur Rahman Nizami, leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami, and two other ministers from the Bangladesh Nationalist Party-led government were last week detained over a coal mining graft case.

BARGUNA, Bangladesh, Nov 17, 2007 (AFP) - Thousands of people are believed dead and millions are homeless and destitute after the worst cyclone in years tore through impoverished Bangladesh, officials said Saturday.

More than 1,723 people were confirmed to have died and the number was rising by the hour as soldiers and relief workers battled to reach the worst-hit coastal districts that were smashed late Thursday as cyclone Sidr roared in from the Bay of Bengal.

DHAKA, Nov 17, 2007 (AFP) - Bangladesh said Saturday that 1,723 people had been confirmed dead in the cyclone-hit south of the country, with the toll from the disaster expected to rise further.

'The number of deaths so far is 1,723 and it is increasing still,' said Major Emdadul Islam of the armed forces control room.

Officials have said they expect 'thousands' of bodies to be recovered over the coming days as relief workers reach badly hit areas.

DHAKA, Nov 17, 2007 (AFP) - Bangladesh said Saturday that 1,595 people had been confirmed dead in the cyclone-hit south of the country, with the toll from the disaster expected to rise further.

'We have so far confirmed 1,595 deaths and still more are coming in,' said Salina Shahid of the relief and disaster management ministry control room.

Officials have said they expect 'thousands' of bodies to be recovered over the coming days as relief workers reach badly hit areas.

JHALOKATI, Bangladesh, Nov 17, 2007 (AFP) - Bangladesh said Saturday it feared thousands of corpses were littering its southern coast after the worst cyclone in years tore through the impoverished and low-lying area.

With over 1,000 confirmed dead, the army and relief workers were battling to reach the worst-hit districts, where most villages have been flattened by cyclone Sidr, which smashed into the disaster-prone nation overnight Thursday.

DHAKA, Nov 17, 2007 (AFP) - Bangladesh said Saturday that 1,070 people have been confirmed dead in the cyclone-hit south of the country, with the toll from the disaster expected to rise further.

'The death toll up to now is 1,070, but it will increase,' Salina Shahid, an official in the ministry of relief and disaster management, told AFP.

Officials have said they anticipate that 'thousands' of corpses are littering the area.

ZURICH, Switzerland, Nov 17, 2007 (AFP) - A Swiss church charity donated 200,000 Swiss francs (121,000 euros) Saturday to help victims of the Bangladesh cyclone.

The aid will pay for the transportation of food parcels, drinking water, medical and hygiene supplies to those stricken by the cyclone, which had claimed 932 lives according to the latest death toll issued on Saturday.

The donation comes from the EPER -- the aid agency of the Swiss Protestant Churches.

DHAKA, Nov 17, 2007 (AFP) - Bangladesh's vast Sunderbans mangrove forest, home to the endangered Royal Bengal tiger, bore the brunt of a deadly cyclone that smashed into the country, likely killing wildlife, an official said.

DHAKA, Nov 17, 2007 (AFP) - The number of people killed by a cyclone that tore through impoverished Bangladesh may run into the thousands, a government official told AFP Saturday, with the current death toll already at 932.

'We are expecting that thousands of dead bodies may be found within a few days,' said the deputy head of the government's disaster management office, Shekhar Chandra Das.