In a closed-door hearing Thursday, U.S. District Judge James Moody rejected defense objections to showing about 10 minutes of Al-Arian's interview with Steven Emerson for the documentary ``Jihad in America.''

That program claimed law enforcement officials considered Al-Arian's charity the Palestinian Islamic Jihad's primary support organization in the United States. It also sparked a Tampa Tribune investigation published in May 1995 that connected Al-Arian's think tank, the World and Islam Studies Enterprise, to the University of South Florida.

Al-Arian and three other men are on trial on racketeering and conspiracy charges. Prosecutors say the men helped finance and run the terrorist group.

Federal prosecutor Terry Zitek said outtakes from the interview would show jurors that Al-Arian lied to protect an Islamic Jihad cell operating in Tampa.

Defense attorney William Moffitt said prosecutors already have entered evidence in an attempt to make that point, including a series of 1995 calls with a St. Petersburg Times reporter.

Emerson, whose statements often draw criticism from Muslim groups and in the media, made the tape available to investigators. He is no longer a journalist but runs the Investigative Project, an institute that focuses on militant Islamic organizations.

``I do support and try to assist the government in any investigations involving terrorism,'' he said. ``It's part of the mission of the Investigative Project.''

The tape won't be shown before next week. FBI agent Kerry Myers still faces cross examination by attorneys for defendant Hatim Fariz. Myers has been on the witness stand for a month, often sitting silently while prosecutors read aloud from translations of more than 400 secretly intercepted telephone calls and faxes in evidence.

On Thursday, defense attorney Stephen Bernstein continued to try to distance his client, Sameeh Hammoudeh, from Al-Arian. He pointed to references in transcripts noting that Hammoudeh is not mentioned.

In addition, he challenged the government's claim that a nickname cited in about eight intercepts belongs to Hammoudeh.

The FBI never targeted defendant Ghassan Ballut's telephone for a wiretap, Myers said under questioning by defense attorney Brooke Elvington. As a result, evidence shows Ballut receiving faxes or talking with other conspirators, but doesn't show whether he acted on some of those requests, she said.

She also pointed to transcripts that showed Ballut and other conspirators talking about donations to feed needy people and buy an ambulance.

Reporter Michael Fechter can be reached at (813) 259-7621.