Talal al-Asmar "had surgery to the legs and is in stable condition," doctor Yehiya Shehab of the Labib Medical Centre in the southern port city of Sidon, outside Ain el-Helweh camp, told AFP.

Asmar was still scheduled to have eye surgery, the doctor added.

Earlier a Palestinian official had said that Asmar, who belongs to the Fatah faction loyal to Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, had been killed in a bomb attack in the sprawling camp.

That report was later contradicted by another Palestinian official who said that Asmar was "seriously wounded in the head and the body" and "in critical condition" after undergoing surgery.

According to Palestinian officials the bomb that targeted Asmar was activated by remote control and exploded outside a Fatah office in Ain el-Helweh

One Palestinian official linked the attack to the death of three Palestinians killed earlier this month in Ain el-Helweh in fighting with a joint force of Palestinian factions which police the camp.

One of those killed was Shehade Jawhar of the Islamist group Jund al-Sham, who had been wanted by the Lebanese authorities for murder.

"It was a retaliation for the assassination of Shehade Jawhar," the official said.

Ain el-Helweh has in recent months become the theatre of clashes between Fatah and Jund al-Sham, a Sunni group comprising mainly Lebanese without a clear hierarchy.

Members of extremist groups believed to have links with Al-Qaeda have settled in Lebanon's Palestinian refugee camps, especially in Ain el-Helweh, which has a population of more than 45,000.

The camps are outside the control of Lebanese authorities, with Palestinian factions, including Fatah, in charge of security. -AFP