Pegida leader resigns days into the role

Five organisers of Germany's anti-Islamist Pegida movement, including leader Kathrin Oertel, have stood down following disagreements over the departure of its disgraced founder.

Graphic designer Lutz Bachmann, organiser of Monday-night protest marches against the "Islamisation" of Europe, resigned last week after he posed as Hitler in a picture on Facebook and dismissed asylum seekers as "cattle" and "trash".

Ms Oertel, who appeared beside Mr Bachmann at rallies and press conferences, welcomed his resignation and stepped into the spotlight as the face of Pegida.

Pegida confirmed via its Facebook page that the 37-year-old had stood down after “offering herself up for our cause”.

“When photographers and other strange people creep around her house at night, then you cannot blame even the strongest woman for asking for time out,” said the statement.

Four other members of Pegida’s 12-member head organisation team have also stood down, halving its number within a week. According to departing members, the split was caused by disagreements over the future role of Mr Bachmann within the organisation.

"It's not on that we distance ourselves as an organisation from Lutz Bachmann's unbearable remarks yet he wants to remain in the organisation team," deputy chairman of Pegida Rene Jahn told reporters. "I want to have nothing to do with this Nazi stuff and right-wing remarks."

Pegida said a new organisation team would be elected in the coming days and that founder Lutz Bachmann would not be part of the organisation in future.

March cancelled

Faced with growing organisational chaos, Pegida announced it was cancelling next Monday’s march. The last march, brought forward to Sunday, attracted 17,000people - down on the peak turnout of 25,000 two weeks previously.

Ms Oertel's resignation comes days after she held a secret meeting with Saxony's interior minister Markus Ulbrig, who previously dismissed Pegida organisers as "rabble-rousers".

While anti-Pegida demonstrations are growing in Saxony, so too are the number of attacks on the homes of asylum seekers. A 70 per cent rise in German asylum numbers last year has put pressure on local authorities to house arrivals. According to Saxon police statistics, the number of politically-motivated attacks on asylum accommodation tripled in a year to 44 in 2014.

Some 14 cases involved swastika or “SS” graffiti being daubed on walls while nine cases involved physical violence.

Meanwhile the US has issued a travel warning for its citizens, saying that Pegida demonstrations in Dresden "can turn confrontational and escalate into violence".