"There are a lot of expectations on us. But we can't do policing, nor do we have any executive powers," Olafsdottir said. "When the ceasefire agreement was drafted, no one foresaw these type of killings."
The Tigers haven't acknowledged or denied involvement.
"It is easy for everybody to point the finger at us," said Ilanthirayan, the mainstream rebels' political leader in Batticaloa. He goes by one name.
"For the violence to end, the government and its forces should evict all paramilitary forces from here consistent with their agreement with us," he said. The ceasefire called for disarming all Tamil groups except the Tigers.
Some government officials say the Tigers bear plenty of blame.
Tigers suspected in killings can simply disappear into rebel-controlled territory, where the truce bars government forces, said military spokesman Brigadier Daya Ratnayake.
But the Tigers and their supporters aren't safe either. Ilanthirayan's predecessor, as well as a pro-rebel journalist and many other Tiger supporters have been slain by men believed to be from the breakaway faction.
The spokesman for the breakaway fighters, who uses the pseudonym K. Umarnath Sharma, insists his group does not kill mainstream Tiger supporters except in self-defense.
"We have never been a paramilitary group and never will be one," Sharma said.
Those who suffer most are the victims' families, most of them impoverished.
Samuel Puthalvakumari carries around a photo of happier times with her smiling husband -- a laborer -- and their 15-month-old daughter, both killed by suspected Tigers after visiting a Hindu temple in 2003.
Puthalvakumari can't understand why attackers fired guns and threw a hand grenade at her husband and daughter, who were on a bicycle.
"I did not even look at my daughter's body," she said, weeping. "Relatives said she had no eyes and legs."
Meanwhile, people in Batticaloa whisper about the bloodshed around them, and avoiding going out after dusk.
RSS