Washington/Beirut  - The United States Saturday called for the immediate release by Syria of a human rights lawyer, saying it joined Britain, France and other countries in expressing "deep concern" about the arrest.

Earlier Saturday, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner cancelled his planned Saturday visit to Syria after Damascus detained Haitham al-Maleh, a 78-year-old Syrian human rights activist.

In a statement, the White House charged that Maleh was detained by Syrian security services on October 14 as part of a "two-year crackdown on lawyers and civil society activists."

"We call on the Syrian government to meet its responsibilities under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and to end its practice of arbitrary arrests," the White House said.

The White House called on Syria to release Maleh and other Syrian citizens "who have been imprisoned solely for seeking to exercise their internationally recognized political freedoms."

Maleh disappeared after being summoned to the Syrian security department for questioning. The reason for his detention and the charges against him have not been divulged.

Maleh is a prominent lawyer and a prominent human rights activist. He holds degrees in Syrian and international law. In 1958 he became a judge, but because of his pro-freedom opinions, he was dismissed from judiciary in 1966 and returned to being an attorney.

Maleh was detained in 1980-1986 along with a number of union leaders and political activists for demanding constitutional reforms. He conducted several hunger strikes during his long imprisonment.

Maleh is one of the founders of the Human Rights Association in Syria, elected as chairman till 2006. In May 2006, he was sentenced to 10 days' prison on public contempt allegations.

According to the London-based al Hayat newspaper, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is to visit France within 15 days. (dpa)