Updated

Yemen's state news agency says Interior Minister Ahmed al-Maysari demanded the closure of informal prisons in a meeting with an Emirati official, despite denials by the United Arab Emirates that it controls detention facilities in the country.

The SABA news agency said he made the demand in talks Monday with Reem al-Hashemi, the UAE minister for international cooperation, in the southern city of Aden. The meeting was also attended by the top Emirati military commander in Yemen, Brig. Gen. Mohammed al-Hassani.

Al-Maysari has complained in the past that the prisons are not under Yemeni government control. But this was the first time he has gone public with a demand to a senior Emirati official for their closure.

The Associated Press uncovered rampant sexual abuses and torture in the detention centers.