We report on the results of an EPIC XMM-Newton observation of the faint source SAX J1748.2-2808 and the surrounding field. This source was discovered during the BeppoSAX Galactic center survey performed in 1997-1998. A spatial analysis resulted in the detection of 31 sources within the EPIC field of view. SAX J1748.2-2808 is clearly resolved into 2 sources in EPIC images with the brighter contributing almost 80% of the 2-10 keV flux. Spectral fits to this main source are consistent with an absorbed power-law with a photon index of 1.4+/- 0.5 and absorption equivalent to 14 +6 _-4* 1022 cm-2 together with an iron line at 6.6 +0.2 _-0.2 keV with an equivalent width of 780 +620_-380 eV. The significantly better statistics of the \xmm observation, compared with \sax, allows to exclude a thermal nature for the X-ray emission. A comparison with other observations of SAXJ1748.2-2808 does not reveal any evidence for spectral or intensity long-term variability. Based on these properties we propose that the source is a low-luminosity high-mass X-ray binary located in the Galactic center region. \maketitle