Protesters returned to the streets of cities in Madagascar on Monday for a third week.

Many were university students who seized on protests last month against water and power cuts to air broader grievances against the administration of President Andry Rajoelina.

The protests are the largest wave of unrest on the Indian Ocean Island nation in recent years.

President sacks cabinet

Malagasy television stations showed images on Monday of police officers confronting protesters in the southern city of Toliara and the northern city of Diego Suarez.

President Rajoelina sacked his cabinet last week, but that appears to have done little to appease the demonstrators.

The United Nations said that at least 22 people were killed and more than 100 injured in the initial days of the protests, figures the government has rejected.

Rajoelina said in a speech on Friday that he was ready to listen to the protesters' grievances but ignored calls for his resignation.

Protests being 'exploited by political actors': Rajoelina's office

A spokesperson for Rajoelina's office told Reuters over the weekend that the protest movement was being "exploited by political actors who are seeking to destabilise the country."

"President Rajoelina remains committed to dialogue, to accelerating solutions that improve people's daily lives," she said in a statement.

In a separate statement on Monday, the presidency said some civil society organisations had met Rajoelina on Saturday, without providing details.