MTN has no comment after Bharti says bid not needed

JOHANNESBURG, May 13 (Reuters) - MTN (MTNJ.J: Quote, Profile, Research), sub-Saharan Africa's biggest mobile phone operator, declined to comment on Tuesday after India's Bharti Airtel (BRTI.BO: Quote, Profile, Research) said talks with the South African company were aimed at combining the groups' strengths and were still exploratory.

"At this stage MTN is not commenting further than the cautionary announcement made on May 5. Should this position change, MTN will communicate accordingly," MTN said in an e-mailed statement. (Reporting by Marius Bosch)