Burundi Court Validates President's Third Term Bid

The statement came on Tuesday as dozens of protesters marched in the capital Bujumbura to say they would "never accept" a campaign they call illegal.

Police also fired teargas at protesters as they approached the US embassy on Tuesday.

Nkurunziza's announcement that he would stand in a June 26 vote has plunged Burundi into its worst political crisis since its ethnically fuelled civil war ended a decade ago.

"The renewal of the presidential term through direct universal suffrage for five years is not against the constitution of Burundi," a constitutional court statement said.

Al Jazeera's Malcolm Webb, reporting from Bujumbura on Tuesday, said people do not accept the ruling as at least four of the seven constitution court judges had fled the country.

"We don't care about the constitutional court decision because we know this court is manipulated," said Jean Minani, leader of Frodebu-Nyakuri party, part of one coalition behind the protests told AFP news agency. He said rallies would not stop until the president backed down.

Judge Sylvere Nimpagaritse, the constitutional court's vice-president, fled to Rwanda on Monday.

Nimpagaritse told AFP news agency that the court's judges had come under "enormous pressure and even death threats" from senior figures, which he refused to name, to approve the disputed candidature of the Nkurunziza.

He said that a majority of the court's seven judges believed it would be unconstitutional for Nkurunziza to stand again, but had faced "enormous pressure and even death threats" to force them to change their mind.

Following the court's ruling the Vice-President Prosper Bazombanza offered an olive branch, promising to release hundreds of protesters and reopen radio stations if the demonstrations stop.