KUPANG Indonesia AP Armed with knives sickles and swords frightened Muslims on Tuesday guarded their homes and places of worship in a provincial capital after Christian mobs went on a rampage burning or ransacking 15 mosques. The attacks Monday in the city of Kupang came in apparent retaliation for the burning of churches in Jakarta on Nov. 22 escalating religious tensions in a nation already shaken by economic and political turmoil. ``I feel very sad and shocked'' said Kamtina Ibrahim a 26-year-old Muslim woman standing in front of the damaged main mosque in the city of 120000. Stone-throwing rioters had pushed down the doors and shattered most of the windows. Amid fears of a spree of tit-for-tat violence Muslim mobs early Tuesday burned two homes used for Christian worship as well as a shop and a cinema in Banjarsari 155 miles 250 kilometers southeast of Jakarta the military said. Social tensions in the Southeast Asian nation have intensified as it grapples with its worst economic crisis in decades. Thousands of people many with knives and other weapons blocked roads in the Christian-dominated city of Kupang and gang fights broke out. Troops patrolled in some parts of the capital of East Nusa Tenggara province 1875 kilometers 1172 miles southeast of Jakarta. Many army reinforcements had rushed from the nearby territory of East Timor where separatist rebels have been fighting the Indonesian military since 1975. Police said they had detained alleged instigators of the riots the official Antara news agency reported. Authorities did not say how many people were being questioned. Skeptical of the military's vow to protect them many Muslims in Kupang patrolled in front of homes and mosques. Indonesia is 90 percent Muslim and is the world's most populous Islamic nation. However some islands in the sprawling archipelago have Christian majorities. On Monday mobs damaged or set afire 15 mosques after a protest against church-burning by thousands of Christians degenerated into a riot said Muhammad Djaffar chairman of the mosque council in Kupang. Crowds also burned down a market a Muslim school and a hostel for Islamic pilgrims. Several other small places of Islamic worship as well as dozens of shops belonging to migrants from other islands were also set on fire. Djaffar criticized the security forces saying they reacted slowly to the unrest and showed little desire to confront the mobs. There were no reports of arrests. ``They seemed very calm while the rioters torched and pelted the mosques with stones'' Djaffar said. ``They didn't do anything to stop the mobs.'' Four mosques were burned and 13 people were injured said F.K. Lerik the Protestant mayor of Kupang. Air services to Kupang were canceled because of security concerns. The violence was seen as an act of revenge for the burning and ransacking of 22 churches by Muslim mobs in Jakarta two weeks ago when 14 people were killed some hacked to death. Hoping to cool tensions Kupang's Roman Catholic Bishop Petrus Turang apologized for the burnings. Islamic leaders across the nation of 202 million urged their followers not to retaliate with more violence. ``We condemn all burning of houses of God'' President B.J. Habibie said Tuesday. ``We condemn it whether it is the burning of churches or mosques or Buddhist temples or whatever.'' Religious diversity based on a belief in God is enshrined in the national philosophy known as Pancasila adopted when Indonesia declared independence from Dutch colonial rule in 1945. The upsurge in religious violence follows months of riots and protests in many parts of Indonesia. There is also political turmoil as students protesters demand greater democracy after 32 years of authoritarian rule by former President Suharto who was forced to quit following deadly riots in May. APW19981201.0039.txt.body.html APW19981201.0568.txt.body.html