Infighting splits German anti-Islam group PEGIDA
The German anti-Islam group PEGIDA, whose rallies have brought up to 25,000 onto the streets of Dresden in recent weeks, appeared to be all but finished on Thursday after five of its founding members said they were setting up a rival movement.
After quitting PEGIDA en masse on Tuesday night, the five said they wanted to campaign for direct democracy and controlled immigration, and would stage a march in Dresden on Feb. 9.
"We five want to reach out to the middle of society ... There is a certain level of discontent in the population; this was communicated to us at our rallies and, after we resigned, many people said we must continue," former PEGIDA committee member Rene Jahn told a news conference.
