Zimbabwean police have arrested a leader of the country's war veterans after the group accused President Robert Mugabe of dictatorial behaviour, lawyers said Thursday.

Douglas Mahiya, the spokesman for the War Veterans Association, was arrested late Wednesday in Harare in an apparent crackdown on growing dissent, according to Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights.

"Information presently at hand is that the police are charging him with subverting a constitutional government and insulting the office of the president," the lawyers said.