MOSCOW, January 19 (Sputnik) – Pegida is spearheading an anti-Islam and anti-immigrant movement in Germany and has called on its supporters to take part in a rally next Monday after cancelling a similar event this week due to death threats from the Islamic State, the Associated Press reports.
On Sunday, Pegida said that it would cancel its 13th event because of threats allegedly issued by the Islamic State, a brutal Sunni group active in the Middle East. "What in police jargon is called an 'abstract threat' has changed to a 'concrete death threat' against a member of the organising team. IS terrorists have ordered his assassination," Pegida said, as quoted by AFP. The remark prompted Germany’s daily Bild to allege that extremists target Lutz Bachmann, 41, the founder of the movement.
Pegida holds weekly anti-Islam rallies in Dresden, attracting thousands of people. Last week, a record 25,000 people took to the streets of the German city. Pegida’s official Facebook page has already garnered more than 150,000 likes.
German officials decried the movement. Last week, German Chancellor Angela Merkel along with top officials and politicians took part in an anti-Pegida rally held in Berlin.
