Jordan's Islamic Action Front picks up new leadership

May 31, 2009, 16:42 GMT

Amman - The Islamic Action Front, Jordan's largest political party, has chosen new interim leadership in a bid to restore unity that seemed to have been undermined due to exacerbating feuds among members of the party's Executive Bureau that lasted over the past two years, the IAF said in a statement Sunday.

The IAF's Consultative Council, the group's highest decision- making body, chose Ishaq Farhan, a renowned academic, as Secretary General to succeed Zaki Bani Ershaid who resigned earlier this month.

The Council also elected eight new members to the party's Executive Bureau.

In an address to the Council, Farhan underscored the importance of 'resolving differences in a fraternal manner and sticking to the Islamic movement's vision for reform,' the statement said.

The IAF is the political arm of the influential Muslim Brotherhood movement.

The differences between what observers described as doves and hawks inside the IAF were cited as the main reason behind their poor showing in the 2007 general elections, when the party returned only six deputies compared with 17 deputies in the previous lower house of parliament.