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WASHINGTON (AP) -- U.S. officials believe a detainee who was released after six years in Guantanamo Bay is now a top figure in the Yemen branch of al-Qaida.

A U.S. counterterrorism official confirmed Friday that Said Ali al-Shihri was released in 2007 after six years of confinement.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity in order to discuss foreign intelligence, says al-Shihri is one of a one of a small group of deputies in what's known as "al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula."

An Internet site commonly used by militants had announced that al-Shihri is the group's second-in-command in Yemen.

The Internet statement said the detainee returned to his home in Saudi Arabia after his release from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and then went to Yemen to help lead al-Qaida.

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