AFP - Oman confirmed on Tuesday that Israeli diplomats visited the Gulf sultanate but said they did not meet with the country's foreign policy chief.

Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported earlier that Yossi Gal, director general of Israel's foreign ministry, met Yussef bin Alawi bin Abdullah on Sunday on the sidelines of an event at the Middle East Desalination Research Centre (MEDRC).

"Israeli diplomats met with the secretary general of the foreign ministry, Badr bin Hamad al-Bousaidi," said a top Omani official, requesting not to be named.

Haaretz said an Israeli diplomat had confirmed the visit but was unable to comment on the alleged meeting with Abdullah, Oman's minister responsible for foreign affairs.

Israel had a trade office in Oman, which was opened in 1996 a few years after the start of the Oslo peace process and closed in October 2000 following the outbreak of the second Palestinian intifada.

The Jewish state opened another trade office in Qatar in 1996, but it was closed in January in protest at the Israel's war in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.

MEDRC was established in 1996 by Oman, Israel, Japan, South Korea and the United States. Based in Muscat, the centre deals with water issues affecting the region.