WASHINGTON, Jan 20 (Reuters) - The Justice Department will do all it can to make sure a federal judge promptly hears whether a 6-year-old Cuban shipwreck survivor will be sent home to his father in Cuba or remain in Florida, U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno said on Thursday.
``We will look at everything that can be done to have the matter heard appropriately and promptly with the recognition that it does the child no good to be in limbo,'' she said at her weekly Justice Department news briefing.
Reno's comments occurred a day after the Miami relatives of Elian Gonzalez, the boy at the centre of the dispute, sued to force the U.S. government to hold a hearing on whether he should stay in the United States or go back to Cuba.
Reno repeated her view that she thought the Immigration and Naturalisation Service made the correct decision earlier this month in determining that Elian belongs with his father.
``I always try to put things in terms of the human beings involved, and right now this is about one little boy. It is also about the bond between the parent and child. It is also about people's strong feelings against tyranny,'' she said.
``We have said that in this instance the bond between parent and child is what must control. It is based on the facts of this case. But it is so important that we address the human issue of a little 6-year-old boy, of his father that wants him back,'' Reno said.
``And I think the law should proceed with all deliberate speed to address that issue,'' she said.
Elian has been at the centre of an international custody battle since he was found by fishermen floating on an inner tube off the Florida coast on Nov. 25. He survived the sinking of a migrant boat in which his mother and 10 others died.
His relatives want to keep him in the United States. His father, who was divorced from the boy's mother, has repeatedly asked the United States to send his son home.
Reno made clear she thinks the father's views take precedence.
``As I have indicated previously, law, morals, family values that we talk about -- all say that the bond between parent and child is one of the most sacred, one of the most important relationships there is,'' she said.
Reno said the Justice Department's lawyers would respond to the lawsuit ``as soon as possible consistent with appropriate preparation.''
Asked what would happen if Congress makes Elian a U.S. citizen, Reno said, ``We would look at it at that time and make an appropriate determination.''
16:43 01-20-00
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