SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Yemen's deputy interior minister says secret prisons that the AP had reported are under the control of the United Arab Emiratis and its allied militias are now under the authority of the Yemeni government.

However, other security officials contradicted the statement Monday by Maj. Gen. Ali Lakhsha. Two officials said the prisons remain under the control of the Security Belt, a UAE-funded militia that does not answer to the government.

They spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the press.

Lakhsha initially said during a visit Sunday to the southern city of Aden that no secret prisons outside government control ever existed. That prompted an angry protest by families of detainees, accusing the government of "whitewashing their (UAE) crimes."