By Edmund Blair and Patrick Nduwimana
BUJUMBURA (Reuters) - A senior U.S. diplomat told Burundi's President Pierre Nkurunziza on Thursday that the east African country risks boiling over if it smothers political opposition, as protests against the president entered a fifth day.
The Burundi Red Cross said 15 protesters were injured after clashing with the police on Thursday. Some suffered bullet wounds, said Gordien Niyungeko, from civil society group Focode.
Earlier about 100 protesters were in a standoff with police in one suburb of the capital Bujumbura, using smouldering tyres, sticks and stones to barricade a road. Hundreds of protesters massed in other districts, activists said.
Tom Malinowski, U.S. assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labour, arrived in Burundi on Wednesday to try to help halt escalating unrest and defuse the country's biggest crisis in years, set off by Nkurunziza's decision to seek a third term in office.
Protesters say Nkurunziza's decision to stand in the presidential election in June violates the constitution and jeopardises a peace deal that has kept ethnic tensions in check since a civil war ended in 2005. The presidency says the protests are an "insurrection."
Malinowski said he told Nkurunziza during a meeting with the president that the government must allow peaceful criticism and room for political opposition ahead of the June 26 vote.
"I left the president with the thought that this country with its very complicated and difficult history is like a boiling pot, and that if you try to put a lid on that pot it doesn't stop boiling. It risks boiling over," Malinowski told reporters after the meeting.
"NO RESTRICTION"
Nkurunziza told Malinowski that protests against him were illegal but that the opposition would not be restricted, according to presidential spokesman Gervais Abayeho.
The president said "political space would be respected and there is no restriction whatsoever to anybody who is engaged in political competition. Everyone has a role to play," Abayeho said.
The protesters have vowed to continue rallies against Nkurunziza. "We will only leave when he says he won't stand. We don't want him to violate the Arusha agreement and the constitution," said Issa Niyonzima, 22, referring to the peace deal that ended the civil war.
The University of Burundi was closed on Wednesday for security reasons and messaging service WhatsApp has been shut down due to fears protesters were using social media to fuel unrest, the presidency said.
Samantha Power, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said late on Wednesday that Nkurunziza had violated the Arusha agreement by seeking a third term. Washington was deeply troubled by arrests of protesters and the shuttering of independent media, she added.
"Burundi's leaders must end their complacency and now find ways to avoid violence and decide on how best to ensure elections are peaceful, credible and transparent. The actions the Burundian government has taken this week undermine this goal," Power said.
The constitution and Arusha peace accords limit the president to two terms in office, but Nkurunziza's supporters say he can run again because his first term, when he was picked by lawmakers and not elected, does not count.
(Writing by Drazen Jorgic; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
