NEW YORK, March 24 (Xinhuanet) -- The highest court in New York state ruled Thursday that the Fire Department of New York (FDNY) must release tapes of dispatches and emergency radio transmissions made from the World Trade Center on Sept. 11 2001.

    The Court of Appeals ruled 4-3 in favor of granting a Freedom of Information request from the New York Times and victims' families to make the tapes and transcripts public, as well as internal interviews with firefighters about the rescue effort.

    The court ordered the FDNY to give full access to the material,except portions that could cause pain or embarrassment to the people interviewed. But to be granted such an exception, the Fire Department must return to state Supreme Court and convince a judgeon a case-by-case basis.

    The high court also ruled that only Sept. 11 dispatches from the department, and not recordings of callers, could be released, unless the caller, or his or her family in the case of the deceased, consents.

    As part of its decision Thursday, the Court of Appeals also ruled the US Justice Department should be given the opportunity to demonstrate in state Supreme Court that the release of certain factual material the city gave to the federal government for its criminal prosecution of suspected terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui would jeopardize Moussaoui's right to a fair trial.

    Moussaoui is being held as the only person charged in the Sept.11 attacks, which included 19 suicide hijackers. Enditem