Elian relatives condemn raid

Marisleysis Gonzalez: Emotional address to media

The Miami relatives of Cuban shipwreck boy Elian Gonzalez have expressed their anger at the way the six-year-old was snatched from their house at gunpoint.

In an emotional address to a news conference in Washington DC, the boy's cousin, Marisleysis Gonzalez, condemned the pre-dawn raid.

New photographs show a smiling Elian with his father

Holding up a photograph of an armed marshal pointing a gun at Elian and family friend Donato Dalrymple, she said: "That right there ain't a smile, that right there ain't a criminal."

Republican senator Bob Smith, who had tried to set up a meeting between the relatives and Elian, accused the US Government of "armed assault on an innocent family".

The US Attorney-General, Janet Reno, ordered law enforcement officers into Little Havana on Saturday after talks with the relatives broke down.

Senator Smith said Ms Reno had had no legal right to order that the boy be taken by force.

Marisleysis Gonzalez appealed for public support in her bid to be allowed to meet Elian and his father, Juan Miguel Gonzalez.

New photographs

Elian spent the day in the seclusion of Andrews air force base.

Playing soccer at the air force base

The only information about the father and son's time together came in the form of photographs released by the family lawyer, showing them eating lunch, playing football and sitting outside smiling broadly.

The boy's Miami relatives paid a second visit to the base demanding to see him, but as on Saturday, they were rebuffed.

Gregory Craig, a lawyer for Juan Miguel Gonzalez, said it would be up to the father to agree to access - but now was not the appropriate time.

Calm restored

In Miami, police have restored order in the Little Havana district after a series of protests which erupted after the seizure of Elian Gonzalez.

Miami protesters set fire to tyres and rubbish

More than 250 people were arrested in the protests that broke out on Saturday.

In an explosion of anger, protesters clashed with riot police and set tyres and refuse ablaze.

Police used tear gas to control the crowds and put out more than 200 small fires - mostly burning rubbish containers.

Three police officers who were attacked with a bat were in hospital in stable condition.

A 29-year-old man was jailed on charges of the attempted murder of a police officer.

Police are anticipating more protests later on Sunday.

Castro's 'kidnap' fear

The Cuban leader, Fidel Castro, has welcomed the return of the shipwrecked boy Elian Gonzalez to his father - but says he doesn't expect Cuba's relations with Washington to improve as a result.

Fidel Castro: A day of truce with the US

Speaking at a polling station after voting in Cuba's local elections, President Castro described Elian's reunion with his father as a "positive step".

But he expressed concern that the Gonzalez family - who remain sequestered at Andrews Air Force Base near Washington - could be "kidnapped" in the US. On Saturday, President Castro told a jubilant crowd of tens of thousands that the reunion between the castaway and his father was "a shared victory" between the Cuban and US Governments.

Bitter dispute

Elian has been at the centre of a bitter custody battle between his Miami relatives and his Cuban father since he was shipwrecked off the Florida coast last November.

The boy became a focus of anti-Castro sentiment among Cuban exiles since the shipwreck in which his mother died.

Elian will remain in the US in accordance with a US appeal court injunction against the boy being taken to Cuba.

The court has yet to rule on an appeal filed by the boy's Miami family.