COLOMBO, Sept 21: Sri Lanka's eastern port town of Trincomalee was brought to a standstill on Tuesday due to a demonstration staged by the Sinhala community to protest an abduction allegedly carried out by the Tamil Tigers.

Two members of a civilian auxiliary force that works with the security forces had been abducted last month.

The protesters called upon the Norwegian-led Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission to pressure the LTTE into releasing the two. All state institutions and business establishments remained closed in Trincomalee.