County party Chairman Marcus Kindley said he also sent an apology to the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which had condemned the site. The council said the GOP link amounted to party approval.
"We apologize for the link to this Web site and have instituted safeguards against links to such sites in the future," according to a message posted Friday on the GOP site. "There is no room for hate in our society."
The link went to IslamExposed.com, which says it was set up "with one objective in mind -- to expose one of the greatest evils on our planet -- Islam. We have the evidence and materials to prove that this false religion is nothing more than a barbaric occult invented by savages for savages."
The GOP learned about the site from a Web-based news service called WorldNetDaily, Kindley said. He said the party will begin thoroughly researching sites before linking to them.
Linking to IslamExposed.com was "something that slipped through the cracks," Kindley said. "What we're trying to do educate people on the radical side of [Islam] and not to condemn" the entire religion, he said.
The link was put on the Republican site in the fall with a disclaimer that said the party hadn't fully researched the Islam site and didn't endorse its opinions.
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