The Clear Channel Communications court hearing on Thursday brought no resolution to the battle over the $20 billion buyout of the radio station operator, but it did provide some heated words and enlightening emails.

Private equity firms Thomas H. Lee Partners and Bain Capital Partners sued the banks — Citigroup Inc, Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse Group, Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, Deutsche Bank AG, and Wachovia Corp — to force them to fund the buyout of Clear Channel.

The private equity buyers contend the banks balked at providing financing after credit markets deteriorated last year. The buyout firms filed lawsuits in both New York and Texas, seeking to force the banks to fund the deal. The private equity firms rejected the banks’ offer on Tuesday to settle the dispute through binding arbitration.

Mark Hansen, a lawyer for the private equity firms, said the bankers “cooked up a set of loan documents that are nuclear, draconian and punitive” in an attempt to void the contract.

Projecting some emails onto a screen, Hansen highlighted a series of loan conditions that grew increasing onerous over time, including one that insisted the private equity firms could not use their own cash to repay the debt.

“Ah, there will be war.” one bank executive told another in an e-mail..

Hansen told the judge, “They want to lose the war. They want to lose the deal….They want the deal to blow-up.”

The Clear Channel battle promises to continue into May.

New York State Supreme Court Judge Helen Freedman did not indicate when she would rule on the banks’ request to dismiss the lawsuit. A May 5 trial date in the case may be delayed, the judge said.

“Don’t look too forward to May 5,” she said. “I might have to extend it a few days after.”

Stay tuned.

(Additional reporting by Leslie Gevirtz)