A second protestor involved in the Weliweriya demonstration has died, after being wounded by troops who fired on the villagers.

There is a heavy presence of Special Task Force soldiers and armed police in the village, according to the AFP.

A Sri Lankan lawyers’ organisation, the Lawyers Collective,  strongly condemned the Sri Lankan government’s harsh action on the Weliweriya protests.

The Sri Lankan government have outlined that there will be no restrictions placed on the movements of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay during her visit to Sri Lanka.

"We wanted to display black flags to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh beacuse of his support for Sri Lanka. Without India's support Sri Lanka would not have had the opportunity to host the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting - India's role made it possible for them to host it."

"We are protesting against the India Prime Minister for supporting a genocidal government with their pro-Sri Lanka stand, and condemn his actions. That is why we are raising black flags during his visit to Trichy."

"We are calling for the cancellation of CHOGM in Sri Lanka, and the May 17th Movement as well as other organisations are joining Vaiko's call."

'Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa has said that the Weliweriya drinking water dispute was settled satisfactorily.  He has said that in the meantime certain vested elements provoked the villagers into needless confrontations.
 
Rajapaksa has said that the protesting public were satisfied with the solution offered to close a factory, which was supposed to cause contamination of water in the area, but those with political motives provoked some of the residents for staging protests.'

'The U.S. Embassy is concerned about the violence in yesterday’s protest in Weliweriya, and urges the Government of Sri Lanka to respect the rights of people to protest peacefully, and urges restraint from all sides.'

"How will the world view Sri Lanka after the events of yesterday?" asks Jayatilleka, adding, "the obvious observations will be, if this is how the State authorities treat unarmed Sinhalese, largely Buddhist civilian men, women and children who are protesting against polluted water, how must that state have treated the Tamils in the closing stages of the war?"

After recent comments by Pope Francis that he was considering a visit to Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapakse has officially extended an invitation for the Pope to visit the island and see the government’s commitment to “ensuring equity, harmony and sustainable economic, social and

Newly appointed Army Commander Lieutenant General Daya Ratnayake has warned that as the country heads towards ‘political reconciliation’ new forms of threat may emerge against national security.

The Cultural Affairs Minister TB Ekanayake has said the government is looking at moving the British Garrison Cemetery in Kandy, as it is located at a higher elevation than the Temple of the Tooth.

The government is continuing to hope to attract $2bn worth of Foreign Direct Investment in 2013, said Investment Promotion Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardene.

British University Tamil Societies across London collaborated to hold a Black July remembrance discussion session at the London School of Economics on Monday.

"Canada will continue to monitor events in Sri Lanka and do what we can to try to increase pressure on the government of Sri Lanka to make changes,"

"As the prime minister has stated very clearly, we expect our concerns to be addressed prior to the next Commonwealth meeting. However, given the current circumstances, it would be very difficult for this government to fully participate."