A prominent Syrian actress and activist who was detained by regime forces earlier this week was released after several hours, a human rights lawyer said on Saturday, May 18, 2013.

"The security forces released the actress May Skaf around 10:30 pm on Thursday," Anwar al-Bunni told AFP.

Skaf was arrested on Thursday afternoon, on her way home in Damascus, Bunni said.

"Skaf made a mobile phone call to her son, to tell him her identity card had been taken from her by members of the security forces at a checkpoint," he said.

Her mobile phone has since been switched off, he added.

Skaf was arrested in summer 2012 and held for three days after taking part in a Damascus protest that became referred to as the "intellectuals' demonstration".

She has been an outspoken critic of the regime of President Bashar Assad, posting criticism on her Facebook page.

She is best known in Syria for her role in the television series Khan al-Harir, in which she played a strong woman who led demonstrations.

She also played the role of an activist and former detainee in the theatrical work Death and the Maiden, by Chile's Ariel Dorfman.

In the play, Skaf's character meets a man she believes is her former prison guard and rapist.