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No official results have been released from the presidential vote, which has become embroiled in a series of legal cases.

Mr Chitiyo said people in Zimbabwe already knew that “the election had been stolen”.

“An executive decision has been made,” he said. “Mugabe has decided that Tsvangirai will not be President of Zimbabwe. If he stays in exile then his chances disappear. If he comes back his life and liberty are now at stake.”

The Group of Eight advanced nations today joined in the international criticism of Mr Mugabe's tactics, expressing “deep concern” about rising tension in Zimbabwe.

G8 foreign ministers urged a “speedy, credible and genuinely democratic resolution” to the situation and a swift release of the results, according to a statement released by this year’s group host, Japan.

“They stress that violence and intimidation must have no place in this process,” a statement added.

The European Commission also called for the immediate publication of Zimbabwe’s presidential election results, saying further delay would be “unacceptable”.

Mr Brown was speaking at a summit in New York where Western states and the United Nations urged action to ensure a fair outcome from the Zimbabwe election.

African countries avoided the issue and South Africa, the Security Council’s President, opposed discussion of Zimbabwe. President Thabo Mbeki is under increasing criticism at home for insisting on a maintaining a “quiet diplomacy” in Zimbabwe.

The Zimbabwe Justice Minister, accused Mr Brown of taking a hard line to promote British interests, undermine Zimbabwe’s electoral processes and mislead the international community. “We tell him [Brown] clearly and without ambiguity that we are not a colony of the British,” said Mr Chinamasa.

Zimbabwe’s economy is in ruins, with 80 per cent unemployment, chronic food shortages and the world’s worst inflation rate of almost 165,000 per cent. Mr Mugabe is widely blamed for the collapse.

Mr Mbeki told reporters after the summit that the only way for mediators to resolve the impasse was to keep talking with both Mr Mugabe’s Government and the Opposition. Mr Mbeki admitted that “things have gone wrong” in Zimbabwe and said opposition parties must be able to participate in verifying the election results.

Ban Ki Moon, the UN Secretary-General, said that he was not satisfied with a soft approach. “The Zimbabwean authorities and the countries of the region have insisted that these matters are for the region to resolve but the international community continues to watch and wait for decisive action,” he said.

“A stolen election would not be a democratic election at all,” Mr Brown told the summit. “Let a single clear message go out from here in New York that we . . . stand solidly behind democracy and human rights for Zimbabwe.”

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