President Mugabe celebrated Zimbabwe’s Independence Day yesterday with a blistering attack on Britain, accusing it of trying to recolonise the country and of paying off his own people to turn against him.

In an hour-long rant, mostly in his native Shona, Mr Mugabe told about 15,000 cheering supporters at a packed stadium in Harare: “Down with the British.” The fiery address was Mr Mugabe’s first public speech since the elections three weeks ago. Official presidential results are yet to be released and a brutal campaign of intimidation has been unleashed against the opposition.

Yesterday, as the rest of the country tried gamely to enjoy the public holiday, a judge convened the High Court to dismiss an opposition petition calling a halt to a planned recount of parliamentary results that handed them control of the assembly.

Morgan Tsvangirai, the opposition leader, who claims to have won the election outright but has left the country for his safety, said it was “the saddest Independence Day since our liberation from colonial rule”.

Mr Mugabe’s defiant speech comes at the end of a week of mounting international criticism of his regime and rising pressure on its neighbours, particularly South Africa, to intervene.

President Mbeki of South Africa, already a lame-duck leader after losing control of the ruling African National Congress to Jacob Zuma, has seen his position further undermined by his continuing support for Mr Mugabe.

Pope Benedict XVI, on an official visit to Washington, yesterday met South African officials and expressed his concern. Dumisani Kumalo, South Africa’s United Nations envoy, said: “He said he was also watching what is happening in Zimbabwe.”

Britain joined the United States and Ban Ki Moon, the UN Secretary-General, in raising the Zimbabwe crisis at last week’s Security Council meeting. Gordon Brown said that nobody believes Mr Mugabe won the election.

Mr Mugabe, whose election campaign speeches described a world in which Britain wanted to recolonise Zimbabwe, has returned enthusiastically to the theme since the election, making sustained attacks on London.

The state-controlled press this week printed a series of letters purporting to be correspondence between Mr Brown and Mr Tsvangirai, in which the opposition leader asked for Britain to commence a military invasion to overthrow Mr Mugabe’s regime.

The British Embassy in Harare condemned the report as “crude propaganda”, calling the documents forgeries. Yesterday the embassy issued another statement, expressing concern over “reports of beatings and violence being unleashed against electoral officials and opposition supporters”.

It also denied that Western sanctions were to blame for Zimbabwe’s economic collapse, a favourite Mugabe theme, saying that they were aimed at the President and his inner circle, preventing them from travel to, and investment in, Europe.

Mr Mugabe received a rousing reception from thousands of bused-in supporters as he arrived at Gwanzua stadium to give his address as part of the Independence Day celebrations. Followers began chanting “Ndibaba Vanogona”, Shona for “he is an able father”, as he arrived in a motorcade.

After inspecting a presidential guard of honour, he listened smiling as the soldiers chanted “Zimbabwe is a sovereign state. We will defend it with our own blood.”

Leaked government documents have shown that senior military officers are leading the current campaign against the opposition, with 200 commanders in charge of gangs of self-styled war veterans and youth militia.

While the election commission is yet to release official results amid fears of fraud during the delay, the ruling Zanu (PF) party insisted that a second round run-off is required between Mr Tsvangirai and Mr Mugabe.

Insiders say that Mr Mugabe’s defeat came as a huge shock to him and his party. In the days after the election, Mr Mugabe was said to be ready to step down if an immunity deal were agreed, but was strong-armed into staying by military hardliners.

Yesterday the opposition Movement for Democratic Change admitted that it had held talks with Zanu (PF) over power-sharing, but that the initiative quickly broke down. Nelson Chamisa, an MDC spokesman, said that Zanu (PF) had made the first approach, asking for “assurance on Mugabe in the event of him stepping down”. But he added that he “didn’t know what made Mugabe change his mind and be on the warpath again”.

Frustrations have been growing over Mr Mugabe’s apparent imperviousness to outside pressure, and over southern African countries for failing to take a tougher stance against him.

Britain and the United States have channelled funds to human rights and pro-democracy groups in Zimbabwe to promote civil society, which has infuriated Mr Mugabe. He praised South Africa, however, for its role.

Mugabe's thoughts on Britain

“Down with the British. Down with thieves who want to steal our country. Zimbabwe will never be a colony again. Never shall we retreat”

“Today [the British] have perfected their tactics to a more subtle form by using money literally to buy some people to turn against their government. We are being bought like livestock”

“I want to thank South Africa in a special way for the role it has played in brokering our dialogue”

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