Tamils' sit-in shuts down Toronto's Yonge-Dundas intersection

Thousands of Tamil-Canadians shut down the intersection at Yonge and Dundas Streets in downtown Toronto on Friday night to protest the bloody civil war in Sri Lanka.

As of 9 p.m., many in the crowd were sitting in the streets, despite police pleas for them to keep moving.

The demonstrators said they would stay put until they hear from the federal government.

The protesters marched from the U.S. consulate on University Avenue, where they were earlier in the day.

It was the latest in a series of demonstrations by the Tamil community, which is hoping to pressure Ottawa into imposing political sanctions against Sri Lanka.

On Sunday, thousands of Tamil protesters blocked the Gardiner Expressway, a busy Toronto highway, for hours.

Three days later, a long procession of protesters marched though the city's downtown, again snarling traffic, after staging a peaceful demonstration at the Ontario legislature.