Manama: Bahrain has rejected claims that it had invited several Israelis to speak at the Global Entrepreneurship Congress in Manama next month.

As host of the event, Bahrain has invited all UN member states except Israel, Myanmar, North Korea, Taiwan, Iran and Qatar, the government said in a statement on Sunday.

However, the government added, the organisers have the right to send invitations directly to any country.

This is within their prerogatives and Bahrain has no role in it, the statement added.

Manama won the right to host the April 15-18 conference in November 2017 following competition with San Francisco and Sydney.

Saudi Arabia will host the next conference in 2020 and an official announcement in this regard will be made in Manama during the international gathering.

Bahrain, like most Arab countries, has no diplomatic relations with Israel.