PEGIDA loses five more leaders

In a post to the official PEGIDA Facebook page on Wednesday, the anti-Islam group announced that the organization's media spokeswoman, Kathrin Oertel (pictured), has stepped down from her post.

PEGIDA cited hostility, threats, and professional setbacks as the reason for Oertel's decision.

"She sacrificed herself for our cause," the Facebook post said, "but when photographers and other strange figures sneak around her house at night, you can't hold it against even the strongest woman for taking a break."

German media have reported that four additional leading members of the group stepped down on Wednesday. PEGIDA said it would be holding a special session to select new leadership in the coming days.

The group came under fire last week after a photograph emerged of Lutz Bachmann, PEGIDA's former leader, posing as Adolf Hitler. There were also media reports of Bachmann calling asylum seekers in welfare offices "scumbags" and "animals."

PEGIDA's name loosely translates to "Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the West." It has staged regular rallies in Dresden, with offshoots occurring in other German cities, where it protests against the German immigration system and its perception that radical Islam is gaining influence throughout Germany. PEGIDA has denied that it is xenophobic.

mz/sms (dpa, AFP)