By James Vicini
WASHINGTON, 6 (Reuters) - Attorney General Janet Reno said Thursday that she agreed with the decision to reunite a 6-year-old Cuban boy, who has been at the center of an international tug of war since his rescue at sea, with his father in Cuba.
Reno's comments in the politically charged case of Elian Gonzalez dealt a setback to the boy's relatives in Miami, who wanted her to reverse the decision of U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) Commissioner Doris Meissner to send him back to Cuba.
``I fully agree with her determination that the father has the legal right and the legal authority to speak for his child in immigration matters,'' Reno said at her weekly Justice Department news conference.
``If there is any information that we are not privy to -- I never say that I won't reverse myself. I try to be as open-minded as I can,'' Reno said.
``But based on all the information that we have to date, I see no basis for reversing it,'' she said of the decision to return Elian to his father by Jan 14. The boy has been staying with relatives in Miami since he survived the sinking of a refugee boat off the Florida coast Nov. 25, 1999.
His mother, who was divorced from his father, drowned when the boat capsized.
His relatives in Miami, backed by the large U.S. Cuban exile community, demanded Elian be allowed to stay in the United States, while his father and the Cuban government said he must be returned to the communist-ruled island.
Reno said Meissner, whose agency falls under her control, had consulted with her before the announcement of the decision Wednesday.
Reno said the father, Juan Miguel Gonzalez, a hotel worker in Cardenas, Cuba, had provided evidence he has a ``real relationship'' with his son.
``I don't think anybody really disputes that. And there is something about a 6-year-old boy and his father, there is a relationship that the law recognizes, that morality and the sense of right of all people recognize,'' she said.
``Just think about it in the human terms,'' Reno said. ''This is a little 6-year-old boy. He's got just his father left, in terms of parents. Let us work together to give him the relationship'' that is proper under the law.''
Attorneys for Elian's Miami relatives said Wednesday they had written to Reno seeking to reverse the INS decision and grant the boy a political asylum hearing. If Reno rejects the request, the lawyers vowed to go to court.
Reno said she had not yet had the opportunity to review the letter, but promised to formally respond to it as soon as possible.
11:29 01-06-00
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