IN URUMQI, XINJIANG

FRESH protests broke out in the Xinjiang capital of Urumqi in China's far north-west on Tuesday morning, two days after deadly riots there.

About 200 to 300 Uighurs, mostly women and children, demonstrated in front of foreign journalists, demanding the release of their husbands and fathers whom they said had been taken away by the authorities on Monday night in relation to Sunday's riots.

Those riots, which left at least 156 dead, were the worst unrest China has seen in two decades.

Standing on the six-lane Sheng Li (Victory) Road, the women cried and chanted: 'We want freedom. We want our men back.'

As a group of foreign journalists watched, paramilitary police and special forces armed with tear gas, attack dogs and batons blocked off the protesters - hemming them in from about 50m away on either side.

Plainclothes civilians holding clubs stood behind the paramilitary policemen. Six armoured carriers were parked nearby.

When the paramilitary police approached the protesters, the women throw rocks in retaliation. The police backed off.

The foreign journalists, who are on an officially-organised tour to report on the aftermath of Sunday's riots, had been taken to the area to see a car showroom torched in Sunday's violence.

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Night curfew in Urimqi