Saudi Arabia's police have ordered the release of Manal Al-Sharif, the 32-year-old woman arrested for driving in Alkhobar, a report said.

She was arrested after a day after she posted footage on YouTube showing her behind the wheel.

Arab News quaoted attorney Adnan Al-Saleh as saying Alkhobar police had issued her release orders.

Khaled Al-Fakheri of the National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) also confirmed that she was freed from the women's detention centre in Dammam, the newspaper said.

When she was first arrested by members of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice in Alkhobar, she was asked to sign a mandatory paper stating that she would not break the Kingdom's laws again. She was released but rearrested the next day for violating public order. On Thursday, the authorities extended her detention for 10 days.

Al-Sharif’s release was expected after she withdrew from the planned June 17 women’s driving protest and had tendered an apology for having violated driving laws. She had written a letter of appeal to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah seeking her release, the newspaper said.