  We report on our discovery and follow-up observations of the X-ray source SAX
J1747.0-2853 detected in outburst on 1998, March 10 with the BeppoSAX Wide
Field Cameras in the energy range 2-28 keV. The source is located about half
degree off the Galactic Nucleus. A total of 14 type-I X-ray bursts were
detected in Spring 1998, thus identifying the object as a likely low-mass X-ray
binary harboring a weakly magnetized neutron star. Evidence for photospheric
radius expansion is present in at least one of the observed bursts, leading to
an estimate of the source distance of about 9 kpc. We performed a follow-up
target of opportunity observation with the BeppoSAX Narrow Field Instruments on
March 23 for a total elapsed time of 72 ks. The source persistent luminosity
was 2.6x10^36 erg/s in the 2-10 keV energy range. The wide band spectral data
(1-200 keV) are consistent with a remarkable hard X-ray spectrum detected up to
150 keV, highly absorbed at low energies (Nh of the order of 10^23 cm^-2) and
with clear evidence for an absorption edge near 7 keV. A soft thermal component
is also observed, which can be described by single temperature blackbody
emission at about 0.6 keV.
