CAIRO (Reuters) - The next leader of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood will have to heal divisions between moderates and conservatives if the opposition group is to have any political role, a senior member of the group said.

Internal elections for the Brotherhood's 16-member governing body, known as the guidance bureau, were held last week for the first time in 14 years, with members of the old guard securing the bulk of the seats.

Ideological differences within the group, officially banned but tolerated, have been aggravated by the inflexibility of a number of senior members, Abdel-Moneim Abul-Futuh told Reuters in an interview on Saturday.

"The Brotherhood is more active politically now than previously, but has grown more conservative in thought," following years of state oppression and curtailment of its freedom of assembly and participation, said Abul-Futuh, a prominent reformist member.

"There is agreement between me and many leaders, but the performance of some of them can be characterised as strict and rigid," he said.

The group, which won a fifth of the seats in Egypt's parliament in 2005 with members standing as independents, is divided along generational lines, with alienated younger members finding little representation in the new governing body of men mostly well over 50.

It is also divided over questions such the rights of women and religious minorities, how strict Islamic practice should be and how the Brotherhood should deal with state oppression.

Abul-Futuh and deputy leader Mohamed Habib, whom analysts consider moderates, did not win a seat on the governing body. The result of who will lead the Brotherhood will be announced sometime before January 13.