The Palestinian political movement Fatah said official Kamal Medhat, deputy head of the Palestine Liberation Organization in Lebanon, was killed by a roadside bomb there on Tuesday.

Describing the attack as an "assassination", Fatah spokesman Fahmy al-Zaarir in the West Bank told Reuters that the PLO chief in Lebanon, Abbas Zaki, was also visiting the Mieh Mieh refugee camp where Kamal died but that Zaki was not wounded.

Zaarir said it was too early to speculate on who was behind the attack.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the killing as an act of terrorism.

"President Abbas condemns the terrorist crime that targeted Major General Kamal Medhat," he said in a statement issued by his office. It said two of Medhat's bodyguards also died.

The statement added: "He dedicated his life to serve his people and his cause."