Berlin - Germany's anti-Islam movement plunged further into a leadership crisis on Wednesday following the resignation of five of its key figures.
Pegida, or Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the West, said that its spokeswoman, Kathrin Oertel, and four organizers had quit.
One of the group's founders, Lutz Bachmann, said last week he was leaving the group after a photo of him posing as Adolf Hitler appeared on the internet along with several anti-foreigner remarks he allegedly made.
Oertel was stepping down “due to the massive hostility, threats and career disadvantages” as a result of her prominent position in the organization, Pegida said.
“Even the strongest of women has to take time out when at night photographers and other strange figures are sneaking around outside her house,” it said.
Volker Lincke told dpa he decided to step down because he could not identify with the racist comments allegedly made by Bachmann.
Media reports said Thomas Tallacker, a former of member of Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats, was leaving his post at the organization along with the group's deputy leader, Rene Jahn.
Achim Exner, a member of the right-wing populist Alternative for Germany (AfD), is also reportedly throwing in the towel.
The AfD, which has since August swept into three state parliaments in eastern Germany partly on an anti-foreigner platform, has been among Pegida's strongest backers.
Political leaders including Merkel have condemned the Pegida rallies and warned about the dangers of intolerance and racism.
Germany's political establishment has, however, struggled to respond to the group's success in drawing thousands of people to weekly rallies across the country.
At the weekend, Pegida supporters met Sigmar Gabriel, the head of the Social Democrats - the junior member of Merkel's ruling coalition. Gabriel is also vice chancellor and economics minister.
Interior Minister Thomas de Maziere and Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen, both members of Merkel's CDU, also believe political leaders should agree to hold a dialogue with Pegida.
But Horst Seehofer, who heads the CDU's Bavarian-based associate party, the Christian Social Union, has rejected any dialogue with Pegida.
There have also been signs that support for the Pegida protests might have faded as a result of the disarray in the organization's leadership and the large numbers attending anti-Pegida rallies.
A Pegida demonstration on Sunday in Dresden - the focus of the movement's anti-Islam and anti-refugee rallies - drew about 17,000
supporters, according to police estimates.
This was down from the 25 000 who joined a Pegida march through Dresden earlier this month in their biggest turnout since the protests began in October.
Pegida announced that it was cancelling its regular Monday rally in Dresden in the wake of the turmoil in the group's leadership.
Sapa-dpa