Attorney general says Zimbabwe violence declining

HARARE (Reuters) - Violence that followed Zimbabwe's disputed March elections has started to decline throughout the country, acting Attorney General Bharat Patel was quoted as saying by state media on Friday.

"From the feedback received by the Attorney General's office, it would appear that the scale and occurrence of public violence has begun to abate throughout the country," Patel said in a report published by the Herald newspaper.

The opposition Movement for Democratic Change says 43 of its supporters have been killed by militias loyal to President Robert Mugabe since the March 29 elections.

It says the violence is intended to help rig a June 27 run-off presidential vote pitting Mugabe against MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai. The government has blamed the opposition for the violence.

Mugabe's ZANU-PF and the MDC are expected to hold talks on Friday in a multi-party committee facilitated by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission as part of preparations for the presidential run-off.

The first talks under the liaison committee will discuss problems encountered by the parties so far in their campaigns for the run-off, officials say.

Tsvangirai is due to return home on Saturday for the first time since April 8. His return was postponed last weekend after the MDC said it had learnt he was the target of a military intelligence assassination plot.

According to official results, which did not emerge for five weeks after the March 29 election, Tsvangirai beat Mugabe but fell short of the absolute majority needed for outright victory.

Zimbabweans hope the run-off will start recovery from an economic collapse that has brought 165,000 percent inflation, 80 percent unemployment, chronic food and fuel shortages and has sent millions fleeing to nearby countries.