Thursday June 1 12:46 PM ET Federal Court Rules No Asylum Hearing for Elian By Paul Simao ATLANTA (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court ruled on Thursday that Cuban castaway Elian Gonzalez is not entitled to a political asylum hearing, dealing what could be a definitive blow to efforts by his Miami relatives to prevent his father from taking the boy home to Cuba. The Miami relatives immediately appealed to the Supreme Court in hopes of keeping Elian in the United States. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, making a decisive ruling in a highly politicized six-month feud over the 6-year-old's future, affirmed a U.S. district court ruling in March that Elian's father has the right to speak for the boy. The court said that an injunction barring Elian from leaving would ``dissolve without a further order when the court's mandate is issued.'' It was not immediately clear when that would happen. In any case, Elian remains under an order from the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) that bars his departure. For the past five weeks, Elian has been living with his father, step-mother, half-brother and an entourage of playmates in the Washington D.C. area since an April 22 raid to seize him from his Miami relatives' home in Little Havana. He moved last week from a mansion in the countryside to a house in the capital itself. The boy's Miami relatives, who have battled to keep the child from being sent back to Cuba and who have been supported by many anti-Castro Cubans in Miami, went straight to the Supreme Court on Thursday seeking an emergency injunction to stop him from leaving. Elian survived a migrant boat disaster last November in which his mother and 10 others died. He was rapidly caught up in a bitter custody feud that pitted his Miami relatives against his father, supported by Cuban President Fidel Castro. President Clinton, speaking from Berlin where he was on an official visit, and U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno in Washington both said they were ``pleased'' with the court's decision. In Miami, a small crowd of flag-waving supporters of the Miami relatives greeted the Atlanta ruling with tears, anger and shouts of ``betrayal.'' The crowd began gathering late Wednesday outside the Little Havana house where Elian lived until the controversial raid that reunited him with his father. The Atlanta court acknowledged the Miami relatives' concern over his future life in Cuba, but backed an INS decision not to grant Elian an asylum hearing. Reuters Photo ``No one should doubt that if plaintiff returns to Cuba he will be without the degree of liberty that people enjoy in the United States,'' the court ruled. ``Also we admit that re-education, communist indoctrination, and political manipulation of plaintiff for propaganda purposes upon a return to Cuba are not beyond the realm of possibility.'' ``Nonetheless, we cannot say that the INS assessment of plaintiff's asylum claim -- that it probably lacks merit -- was arbitrary,'' the judges wrote. Apart from appealing the case the Supreme Court for a rehearing of the case, the Miami relatives have two options: They could ask for rehearing, or they could ask for a full hearing by all of the 11th district judges in Atlanta. The ruling from the three-judge panel said that any petition for a rehearing must be filed within 14 days. The court ruling was the latest legal move in the protracted feud over Elian. The Miami relatives asked a U.S. District Court in Miami to grant the boy a political asylum hearing, arguing that he would be harmed by going back to Cuba. But a Miami federal judge sided with the INS, which in January decided that only the boy's father could speak for him on immigration matters. The U.S. Justice Department, joined by a lawyer representing Elian's father, argued that only the surviving parent has the right to decide where the boy should live. The Miami relatives refused to return the boy to his father even after he traveled to the United States to claim custody. In a controversial decision by Reno, U.S. agents stormed the relatives' Little Havana home and snatched the boy on April 22, returning him hours later to his father. About 50 people had waited for the ruling outside the Miami relatives' former Little Havana home on Thursday morning, chanting ``Justice for Elian,'' and ``Liberty for Elian.'' As the news came through from Atlanta, Maria Perez, a 57-year-old Cuban who has been in the country for 20 years said, ``I feel a lot of a rage against the United States. I think that the judges have sold themselves to Fidel and Clinton.'' The Miami relatives, led by Elian's great-uncle Lazaro Gonzalez, have not lived in the modest house since the April 22 raid, but it has remained a focal point for supporters of the relatives who have made the battle over Elian part of their long-running crusade against Castro. The April raid triggered street protests in Miami by Cubans who set trash and tires on fire. The Miami police were advised in advance that the court ruling would be issued on Thursday and Miami Police spokesman Lt. Bill Schwartz said, ``We are anticipating a peaceful day no matter what the decision is.'' <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. 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