Tamil youths have led commemorations of the Black July pogroms against Tamils in 1983, with events held in Toronto and London to mark the 30th anniversary.

"We ourselves took shelter in a Muslim house nearby, who gave us shelter, and subsequently, Sinhalese friends, kept us in their house for four days and we were put in a ship and transported to Jaffna.

That was the second such incident in my life. The first being, in the year '77, when there was violence unleashed against Tamils in Colombo. Then too, I was transported that time by air, from Ratmalana airport to Palali, by the government of Sri Lanka.

So twice in my student days I was taken away from the capital city, once by air and once by ship, totally at the cost of the government of Sri Lanka, to the North. The government being unable to protect me, in its own capital, thought that I'd be safe in my home, and sent me to my homeland.

 A freelance journalist, C Mayuran, was attacked by 5 individuals that ambushed him with a white van in Jaffna today, reported Lankasri news.

This week marks the 30th anniversary of the anti-Tamil pogrom on the island of Sri Lanka, remembered as 'Black July'. The attacks saw Sinhala mobs roaming streets across the country, killing, burning, looting and raping their way through Tamil neighbourhoods. Tamils were singled out for attack purely on their ethnic identity - their facial appearance, their fledgling Sinhalese, their cultural symbols, and their names on electoral rolls. The pogrom was brutal - an inevitable outcome of decades of rising Sinhala nationalism and anti-Tamil sentiment. Black July was not a reactionary act of rioting. It was the persecution of one ethnicity by another, with the full endorsement of the state - an act of genocide. 

The Sri Lankan president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, has asked his secretary, Lalith Weeratunga, to appoint a commission to look into disappearances that have taken place over the 30 years of armed conflict, announced the President's media unit.

According to the President's spokesperson, Mohan Samaranayake, the terms of reference and members of the commission are yet to be appointed.

The High Commissioner of Pakistan in Sri Lanka, Qasim Qureshi, visited different provinces to explore opportunities to develop economic, cultural and people to people links, whilst understanding the ground situation,  reported

Tamil political prisoners: Dr S Rajasunderam, Selvarajah Yogandram and Nadarajah Thangathurai

'It is the massacres in the Welikade gaol which are attracting the most attention. There is a particular interest in circumstances in which two alleged guerrilla leaders were killed.

The two men, Sellarasa “Kuttimani” Yogachandiran, leader of the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization (TELO) and a political writer, and Ganeshanathan Jeganathan had been sentenced to death last year for the murder of a policeman.

In speeches from the dock, the two men had announced that they would donate their eyes in the hope that they would be grafted on to Tamils who would see the birth of Eelam, the independent state they were fighting for.

Second hand reports from Batticaloa gaol, where the survivors of the Welikada massacre are now being kept, say that the two men were forced to kneel and their eyes gouged out with iron bars before they were killed.

A Chinese firm has signed a deal with Sri Lanka to build a $1.4bn port complex near Colombo.

"Today marks 30 years since the start of Sri Lanka's "Black July", when anti-Tamil riots broke out in Colombo and soon spread to other parts of the country. Many Tamils lost their lives, their loved ones and their homes. It is estimated that up to 3,000 Tamils lost their lives in those riots - and nearly 700,000 people were forced to flee the country."

"Black July was a tragic turning point in the history of Sri Lanka and marked the beginning of a long period of intense civil war. The events of that time and those of the war shattered lives, tore families apart and sent hundreds of thousands of people into exile."

"I have spoken to Australian Tamils who remember Black July and have expressed to me the unimaginable fear of not feeling safe in one's own home and the agony of not knowing the fate of family and loved ones."

"Many countries around the world have welcomed Sri Lankan Tamils who sought a new and safer life overseas."

"The Greens thank you for your contribution to Australian life and culture. We know that today must be a time of sad reflection for many whose lives were forever changed by the events of 30 years ago. The Greens will continue to be a strong voice for a humane refugee policy in Australia and an independent war crimes investigation into the final stages of the war in Sri Lanka."

The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress withdrew its motion against amending the 13th Amendment on Wednesday.