US News

Battle of Cairo gets medieval

Pro- and anti-Mubarak protesters fought pitched battles like medieval armies — with makeshift catapults to launch rocket attacks from behind improvised barricades — as they struggled for control of central Cairo yesterday in a run-up to a potentially bloodier showdown today.

At least 10 more people were killed in the main battleground, Tahrir Square, including a foreigner beaten to death, medics said. That brought the two-day toll to 13 dead and more than 1,200 wounded since civil war erupted in the capital.

The Obama administration, meanwhile, was in talks with top Egyptian officials about a possible immediate resignation of President Hosni Mubarak — and an interim government that could prepare for elections later this year, US officials said last night.

Creation of a military-backed caretaker government was one of several ideas being discussed as these other developments in the 10-day-old Egyptian crisis unfolded:

* Mubarak said that he’d like to step down immediately but that the violence would only get worse if he did.

When President Obama called, Mubarak told him, “You don’t understand the Egyptian culture and what would happen if I step down now,” Mubarak told ABC News’ Christiane Amanpour.

* Gangs of pro-Mubarak thugs beat journalists, foreigners and human-rights workers with fists and clubs, and the government arrested several reporters and photographers, purportedly for their own protection. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton blamed the Mubarak government for orchestrating the attacks.

Fox News correspondent Greg Palkot and his cameraman, Olaf Wiig, were attacked by an angry mob and suffered serious injuries. They also had been detained by cops and accused of spying for Israel. A crowd threatened ABC’s Brian Hartman with beheading, and Lara Logan of CBS and her crew were detained by cops.

* Omar Suleiman, the new vice president, offered more concessions, saying the next presidential election could be moved up a month to August and the government would investigate the “conspiracy” that triggered the street battles Wednesday.

Suleiman, a former intelligence chief and a Mubarak confidant, also said a million tourists had fled Egypt and the country had lost $1 billion in income.

* Egypt’s state prosecutor hinted that three ministers fired by Mubarak last week now face arrest. The men cannot travel and their bank accounts are frozen, Egypt’s state news agency said.

US officials predicted the violence would escalate today, which pro-democracy protesters had set as “The Day of Departure” for Mubarak to quit.

“We are bracing for a significant increase in the number of demonstrators on the streets and the real prospect of a confrontation,” said State Department spokesman O.J. Crowley.

Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq, who apologized for Wednesday’s mayhem, ordered the interior minister to refrain from unleashing security forces to crush peaceful marches today.

Yesterday’s fighting centered on Tahrir Square, which Mubarak supporters tried to seize in hand-to-hand combat. At least three people were shot, two fatally, said Yasser Tibi, a doctor.

Allahu akbar [God is greatest], the army and the people are hand in hand,” chanted protesters defending the square.

On nearby side streets, pro-Mubarak bands attacked cars to stop supplies from reaching the protest camp.

Elsewhere in Cairo, the government used tanks and a truck to separate the rival street armies. Footage aired on al-Jazeera TV showed a police truck barreling into a battle on a bridge and mowing down several people.

Other protesters were targeted with Molotov cocktails dropped from buildings. Arson fires erupted in Cairo and two suburbs.

By nightfall, the Mubarak foes had held their ground and controlled Tahrir Square and the Kasr Al Nile bridge. Nearly 10,000 people remained in the square, some dancing and singing in victory in the rubble.

andy.soltis@nypost.com