TRIPOLI, Jan 7: A senior Libyan official denied on Wednesday reports out of Israel that high-level, behind the scenes talks had recently been held over the prospect of forging diplomatic ties.

"Libyan authorities have looked into these reports and found nothing to them," Deputy Foreign Minister Hassuna Shawsh told the state news agency JANA.

Diplomatic sources in Israel said on Wednesday a senior aide to Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom held talks late last month with a senior Libyan official about the prospect of forging diplomatic ties.

Shalom's chief political advisor, Ron Prosor, was said to have met the unnamed Libyan foreign ministry official in secret talks in Paris. In response, Shawsh said, "whoever is circulating these reports should provide proof by stating the date and place of these meetings, as well as the people involved.

"International relations are not built on rumours and intrigues," he said, but are instead "based on clarity and mutual confidence." Shawsh added that "those who are spreading these rumours believe they are in the process of serving their interests but, quite the contrary, these rumours are detrimental to them."

The Israeli foreign ministry said on Wednesday the government was pursuing efforts to establish diplomatic relations with Libya and other Arab countries, without confirming the meeting in Paris.

"We have nothing to say concerning such a meeting," spokesman David Saranga said. Shalom himself said last week that dialogue with Tripoli was a possibility.

"If Libya rejoins the family of nations and renounces its weapons (of mass destruction) Israel does not rule out dialogue with this country," said Shalom.-AFP