MIAMI (AP) – Prosecutors can narrowly refer to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks but cannot suggest alleged Al Qaeda operative Jose Padilla and two co-defendants were involved, a federal judge ruled Monday as jury selection got under way.

Federal District Judge Marcia Cooke said that although it would be “naive” to ban all references to the 2001 attacks, the charges in the Padilla case do not allege a direct connection between the defendants and the attacks and should not be used to suggest guilt by association.

“Any idea, through inference or otherwise, that these defendants are connected to 9/11 is not available to the government,” Judge Cooke said as jury selection got under way. “If it’s not what this case is about, it should not be brought into this case.”

Prosecutor John Shipley said there was never any intent to link Mr. Padilla and the other defendants to the Al Qaeda attacks Sept. 11 that killed some 3,000 people. But he said there will be testimony connecting the defendants to the terror group led by Osama bin Laden.

“They certainly supported Al Qaeda, there’s no question about that,” Mr. Shipley said. “We’re not going to try them for their specific involvement in 9/11.”

After the exchange over Sept. 11 references, the first group of 18 potential jurors was brought in for questioning. Jury selection is expected to take about two weeks, with the trial likely to last at least four months.

Mr. Padilla, who has been held for 3 1/2 years as an enemy combatant, and co-defendants Adham Amin Hassoun and Kifah Wael Jayyousi face charges of conspiracy to “murder, kidnap and maim” people overseas and of providing support to terror groups. All three could get life in prison.

The defendants are accused of being part of a support cell that funneled fighters, money and supplies to Islamic extremists in Afghanistan, Chechnya, Bosnia, Tajikistan and elsewhere around the world.

In 2002, then-Attorney General John Ashcroft announced Mr. Padilla’s arrest and said authorities had thwarted an Al Qaeda plot to detonate a radioactive “dirty bomb” in a major city. Those allegations have been dropped.

Mr. Padilla, 36, is a one-time Chicago gang member who converted to Islam.

He was charged in civilian court in 2005 before the Supreme Court could decide whether the president had the authority to continue holding him in military prison without charge.

Mr. Padilla claimed he was tortured while interrogated in military custody – a charge repeatedly denied by the Bush administration – and sought unsuccessfully to have his case dismissed.

Federal officials claim Mr. Padilla admitted involvement and training with Al Qaeda during his brig interrogations, as well as the proposed “dirty bomb” plot and another plan to blow up apartment buildings. However, none of that can be used as evidence because Mr. Padilla had no lawyer present and was not read his Miranda rights.

For the first time, Mr. Padilla appeared in court Monday wearing a charcoal-gray suit, white shirt and tie in place of the tan jail jumpsuit he usually wears. He smiled and waved at relatives sitting in the courtroom.