  We present the result of a systematic search for spectrally hard and soft
X-ray binary systems in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). This search has been
applied to ROSAT PSPC data (0.1-2.4 keV) collected during 9 pointed
observations towards this galaxy covering a time span of 2 years from October
91 till October 93. Selection criteria have been defined in order to confine
the sample of candidates. Finally 7 spectrally hard and 4 spectrally soft
sources were selected from the list as candidates for binaries in the SMC. The
sample is luminosity limited (>3.10**35 erg/s). SMC X-1 has been observed
during a full binary orbit starting with a low-state covering an X-ray eclipse
and emerging into a bright long-duration flare with two short-duration flares
separated by 10 hours. The Be type transient SMC X-2 has been redetected with
ROSAT. Variability has been found in the sources RX J0051.8-7231 and RX
J0052.1-731 already discovered with Einstein. RX J0101.0-7206 has been
discovered at the north-eastern boundary of the giant SMC HII region N66 during
an X-ray outburst and half a year later during a quiescent phase. A variable
source, RX J0049.1-7250, located north-east of the SMC supernova remnant N19
and which may either be an X-ray binary or an AGN turns out to be strongly
absorbed. It may be located behind the SMC. If it is an X-ray binary then it
radiates at the Eddington limit in the X-ray bright state. Another variable and
hard X-ray source RX J0032.9-7348 has been discovered at the south-eastern
border of the body of the SMC. A high mass X-ray binary nature is favored for
this source. We searched for CAL87 like systems in the SMC catalog and found
none. A new candidate supersoft source RX J0103.8-7254 has been detected. We
cannot exclude that it is a foreground object.
