Former Gitmo detainee now among top dogs in Al-Qaeda in Yemen

from Jihad Watch

Good thing Obama is closing the place, eh? Gitmo Recidivism Update: "Freed by U.S., Saudi Becomes a Qaeda Chief," by Robert F. Worth for the New York Times, January 22 (thanks to James):

BEIRUT, Lebanon — The emergence of a former Guantánamo Bay detainee as the deputy leader of Al Qaeda’s Yemeni branch has underscored the potential complications in carrying out the executive order President Obama signed Thursday that the detention center be shut down within a year.

The militant, Said Ali al-Shihri, is suspected of involvement in a deadly bombing of the United States Embassy in Yemen’s capital, Sana, in September. He was released to Saudi Arabia in 2007 and passed through a Saudi rehabilitation program for former jihadists before resurfacing with Al Qaeda in Yemen.

That Saudi program works great!

His status was announced in an Internet statement by the militant group and was confirmed by an American counterterrorism official.

“They’re one and the same guy,” said the official, who insisted on anonymity because he was discussing an intelligence analysis. “He returned to Saudi Arabia in 2007, but his movements to Yemen remain unclear.” [...]

“The lesson here is, whoever receives former Guantánamo detainees needs to keep a close eye on them,” the American official said....

Uh, yeah.