A Pentagon-produced movie about al-Qaeda had its premiere Monday at the first terrorism trial of an inmate at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Shown to an audience of military jurors hearing evidence against a former driver for Osama bin Laden, The Al-Qaida Plan is a 90-minute documentary that traces the origins and goals of the terrorist group, highlighting such events as the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa and the Sept. 11, 2001, hijackings.

The principal figure is bin Laden himself. He is shown firing rifles, giving news conferences from caves and rallying followers as the film traces his movements from Afghanistan to Sudan and back.

It quotes declarations such as his August 1996 statement that "it is a duty now upon every tribe" in the Arabian peninsula to kill American soldiers.

Prosecutors at the military tribunal said they are showing the video to underscore that Salim Hamdan was part of a broader plan to attack the United States and its allies, even if he played only a small role as bin Laden's driver in Afghanistan.

'Knew' Americans would be killed

"He is part of an overarching conspiracy," said Clayton Trivett, a civilian prosecutor from the U.S. Defence Department. "Whether he knew the specifics of the attacks or not, he knew Americans were going to be killed."

The film, which introduces some segments with Middle Eastern music, shows familiar footage of hooded fighters training on a jungle-gym-like apparatus at what is purported to be an al-Qaeda camp and gruesome images of bodies from the East Africa embassy bombings.

It was not immediately clear where else the film might be shown.

Hamdan is charged with conspiracy and aiding terrorism and faces up to life in prison if convicted. He is the first Guantanamo Bay prisoner to go on trial. Of the base's approximately 265 other prisoners, including Canadian Omar Khadr, the Pentagon says it intends to prosecute about 80.

Hamdan's lawyers say he was just a minor employee with no significant role in any attacks and they asked the judge not to allow the al-Qaeda video to be shown to the jury.

The judge allowed the video except a final section on the Sept. 11 hijackings that he said would be "prejudicial."

Of the 775 prisoners who have been held at Guantanamo Bay at one time or another since 2001, about 420 were released without charge, 21 have been charged with terrorism-related offences, and one has been convicted. Australian David Hicks pleaded guilty to providing support for terrorism and was sent back to his home country to serve the remaining nine months of a seven-year sentence.