Police have arrested a group of Cuban women demonstrating to demand the release of their dissident husbands.

The 10 women were also kicked and shouted at by about 100 government supporters as they were being detained, Reuters news agency reported.

The women, who are members of a group known as the Ladies in White, were holding a peaceful protest near the offices of President Raul Castro.

They demanded to talk to the president before police arrived to arrest them.

Authorities imprisoned the women's husbands and other relatives during a 2003 crackdown on dissidents accused of working with the US to subvert the government.

Fifty-five of the dissidents are reported still to be behind bars.