A far-right German politician has become a Muslim despite his party campaigning against the country's "Islamisation".

The Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has confirmed Arthur Wagner, one of its leading politicians in Brandenburg state, has converted to Islam.

The party ran a populist, anti-Islam, anti-immigration campaign before September's federal elections, with slogans such as "Stop Islamisation".

It led to AfD politicians being voted into the Bundestag for the first time, gaining 94 seats to become the third-largest party.

A party spokesman said Mr Wagner resigned from his leadership post on 11 January for "personal reasons" - however, he will remain an AfD member.


"The party has no problem with that," Daniel Friese said, adding that AfD represents the interests of Muslims, and also Christians and homosexuals.

Mr Wagner became an AfD member in 2015 after switching from Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU).

He refused to answer questions about his conversion.

"That's my private business," he told German daily Tagesspiegel.

Support for AfD surged during the election after Mrs Merkel's open border policy allowed nearly one million refugees into Germany in 2015.

The party claimed Germany was under threat of "Islamisation" and demanded tighter border controls.