BERLIN: There’s more trouble at the top for a German organisation protesting the perceived “Isla­mi­sation” of Europe.

The PEGIDA organisation said on its Facebook page on Wednesday that spokeswoman Kathrin Oertel has resigned after receiving threats, while board member Thomas Tallacker has stepped down for work reasons. Organiser Bernd-Vol­ker Lincke told the Fran­kfurter Allgemeine Zeitung he and two others have also resigned. Last week, PEGIDA co-founder Lutz Bachmann quit after online posts surfaced in which he used derogatory language to refer to refugees and posed looking like Adolf Hitler. “Under these circumstances, I couldn’t take part any longer,” Lincke was quoted as saying.

PEGIDA has held weekly anti-Islam rallies in the city of Dresden. After peaking with about 25,000 in attendance, recent rallies have been attracting smaller numbers.Two weeks ago, the organisation cancelled a planned rally after police said a terror threat had been directed against the organiser. On Wednesday, the organisation said it would also cancel the rally planned for next Monday due to the lack of leadership.

Published in Dawn, January 29th, 2015

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