German anti-Islam leader resigns over Hitler selfie

Lutz Bachmann, co-founder of the Patriotic Europeans against the Islamisation of the West, has stepped down after online posts surfaced in which he used derogatory language to refer to refugees and posed looking like Adolf Hitler. German media published comments by Bachmann calling refugees "cattle" and "filthy," AP reported.

Bachmann apologised for the anti-refugee comments, which he made online in September, a month before the group staged its first protest.

"I earnestly apologise to all citizens, who felt attacked by my postings," Bachmann said in a statement on the group's Facebook page.

"They were ill-considered comments that I wouldn't make in this way today," he said.

PEGIDA's spokeswoman, Kathrin Oertel said the Hitler picture had been satire, but Bachmann's comments about refugees and others he made about German politicians hadn't "contributed to the trustworthiness" of the group.

Image: Picture of Lutz Bachmann which surfaced on Facebook. Photograph: Courtesy Facebook