Gunfire was heard and streets were
barricaded in parts of the capital,
Bujumbura, in the third day of protests.
Police are blocking about students in the
second city, Gitega, from joining the
demonstrations, residents said.
The protests are the
biggest in Burundi
since the civil war ended in 2005.
The army and police have been deployed
to quell the protests, which have been
described by government officials as an
insurrection.
'Phone lines cut'
UN chief Ban Ki-moon said, in a
statement, that he had despatched his
special envoy for the region, Said Djinnit,
to Burundi for talks with Mr Nkurunziza.
The crisis is also due to be discussed
later at a meeting of the African Union's
Peace and Security Council.
The government accuses the
protesters of trying to stage an
insurrection
The army has also been deployed to
the streets of the capital
BBC Burundi analyst Prime Ndikumagenge
says the phone lines of private radio
stations have been cut, a decision
apparently taken by the authorities to
prevent news of protests from spreading.
The ruling party's Vice-President Joseph
Ntakirutimana has compared one radio
station to a former Rwandan broadcaster,
accused of fuelling the 1994 genocide.
The Red Cross says at least six people
have been killed in the demonstrations
since Sunday.
More than 24,000 people have fled
Burundi this month, as tensions mount
ahead of presidential elections in June,
the UN refugee agency said.
This includes 5,000 who crossed into
Rwanda at the weekend, it added.
Burundi's ex-President Pierre Buyoya, who
was involved in the peace process that
ended more than a decade of ethnic
conflict, has warned that Burundi could
return to war if the crisis is not resolved.
Mr Nkurunziza is a former rebel leader
who has been in power for a decade
Burundi has a majority Hutu and a
minority Tutsi population.
The opposition says Mr Nkurunziza, a
former rebel who took power after the civil
war ended, should step down.
They say his bid to extend his term is in
defiance of the constitution, as it bars the
president from running for a third term.
However, Mr Nkurunziza's allies say his
first term does not count as he was
appointed by parliament and not directly
by the people.
More than 300,000 people died in the civil
war between the minority Tutsi-dominated
army and mainly Hutu rebel groups,
including Mr Nkurunziza's CNDD-FDD.
