URUMQI, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Chaos hit Urumqi again Tuesday afternoon, nearly two days after a riot that killed 156 people and injured more than 1,000 others.

    Several thousand protesters, mostly Han Chinese, marched along Youhao Street and Guangming Street toward Erdaoqiao, mainly inhabited by Uygurs, in downtown Urumqi.

    The protesters, holding clubs, knives, axes, hammers and various types of tools that could be used as weapons, shouted "protecting our home, protect our family members".

    They were stopped by units of the Armed Police before reaching the destination. No clashes were reported.

    A Xinhua reporter saw an officer with the Armed Police crying while he followed the march.

    Li Zhi, Party leader in Urumqi, rushed to the scene at about 4:30 p.m., to appease the protesters.

    "Down with Rebiya (Kadeer). Let's unite and try to build a better Urumqi," Li yelled through a loudspeaker.

    "Uygur people and Han Chinese are brothers and sisters, we are a family," said the official while repeatedly asking the crowds to leave.

    Many of the protesters began to persuade others to refrain from extreme action, "otherwise those who instigated the deadly Sunday violence would be very happy to see more unrests," a man said while listening to Li's talk.

    But some people asked for punishment of the killers and stronger government action.

    "Let's leave here now. Rebiya must be very willing to see that Urumqi turns out to be in a mess," another protester shouted.

    A Uygur woman, hugging a child, walked through the protesters with a police escort.

    "Let them go. Uygur mobs killed our women and children, but we will not kill theirs," some protesters said.

    The crowds spontaneously sang the National Anthem and gradually dispersed in about 40 minutes. Only several hundred remained at the scene.

    Many protesters had gathered at the Urumqi South Railway Station, Changjiang Road, Yangzijiang Road and some other places. People ran away in panic and roadside shops were shut down.

    Residents of some community compounds held bats for self-defense.

    "We will not hide anymore. We will fight back if they (the rioters) come," said a man standing in front of a building in Shihezi.

    Crowds of people rushed to the municipal people's hospital to take shelter. Many nurses were trying to call their relatives to make sure they are safe.

    An adult who was coughing up blood and a young man whose head was covered in blood were rushed to the hospital for emergency treatment.

    The regional hospital of traditional Chinese medicine received about three Han Chinese with fresh wounds on their bodies in the afternoon, the president of the hospital told Xinhua.

    Witnesses said a group of people gathering around an outlet of the Quanjude roast duck restaurant at Changjiang Road were beating a man at about 2 p.m..

    Police managed to stop the attack and rescued the man.

    Someone drove a car into a police wagon during a standoff with police at Tuanjie Road at about 1:30 p.m.. Police have arrested a number of people. The number of arrests in the latest outburst is unknown at this time.

    "I was shocked how they killed people bloodily. Beating and killing innocent people is extremely cruel," Alfred N. Shifu, an English teacher with Beijing City University, told Xinhua.

    "For a long time, the Chinese government has been pretty tolerant, but they should crackdown severely on those terrorists," said the 32-year-old Cameroon national, who has been in China for seven years. "I think the police should shoot any of those killers."

    Evidence showed that the separatist World Uyghur Congress leader Rebiya Kadeer masterminded the Sunday violence. Rioters attacked civilians, smashed vehicles and shops and set fire to urban facilities.

    (Writings by Xinhua correspondents Zhao Ying, Gui Tao and Cao Kai in Beijing and Li Jianmin, Ji Shaoting, He Zhanjun and Xing Guangli in Xinjiang; Reporting by bureau reporters in Xinjiang)