Bani Rsheid, known for his hawkish attitudes, won the post with a narrow majority of one or two votes in competition with Salem Falahat, a moderate, the Brotherhood official told Arab News.

The choice, which caught political quarters with surprise, is expected to put the country’s Islamists once again on a collision course with the government, political sources said.

Bani Rsheid was forced to step down as IAF secretary general in May 2009 when he was replaced by the moderate academic Ishaq Farhan in a bid to mend fences with the government and quell growing feuds inside the country’s Islamic movement, the sources added.

The Brotherhood’s Consultative Council also agreed to “sever administrative links” with the Palestinian group Hamas, currently in control of the Gaza Strip, the Brotherhood official said.

However, he denied local reports that the choice of Bani Rsheid came as “a compromise” to please the so-called ”hawks” of the group in return for agreeing to end the controversial affiliations with Hamas that is threatening to undermine the Brotherhood’s unity.

A number of moderate Brotherhood members reportedly threatened over the past few months to resign if the links with Hamas were not severed.

The Jordanian government recognizes the Palestinian Authority of President Mahmoud Abbas as representative of the Palestinian people and so far ignored calls to establish similar ties with Hamas.