CAIRO, Egypt - An Internet posting purportedly by al Qaeda in Yemen says the group's No. 2 is a Saudi national who is a former Guantanamo detainee.

The Yemeni group -- known as "al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula" -- posted the statement this week on a militant website that regularly carries al Qaeda messages.

It says the man returned to his home in Saudi Arabia after his release from the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba about a year ago and from there went to Yemen to join the terror group.

The Internet statement identified the man as Said Ali al-Shihri and says his prisoner number at Guantanamo was 372.

The posting could not immediately be verified, and Yemen and Saudi Arabian authorities would not immediately comment on it.