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Government backs down on deadline for Miami relatives by Alex Veiga The Associated Press Miami — Elian Gonzalez’s great-uncle defied the government Thursday and the government blinked, letting its deadline to collect the boy pass and agree ing to a delay that averts a law-enforcement show down for now. In Little Havana, thousands cheered wildly at the news. £ Attorneys for Elian’s Miami relatives claimed victory after a federal appeals court issued a stay blocking anyone from taking the boy out of the coun try. The Justice Department, though, said it had agreed to a delay of “three or four days.” The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals told the government to respond to the stay by 9:30 a.m. to day, giving great-uncle Lazaro Gonzalez’s family another day with Elian at the very least. Lazaro “feels relief,” family spokesman Armando Gutierrez said, “at least until tomorrow morning.” Thursday’s court action capped a fluid, electri fying day that began minutes after Lazaro Gonzalez dared the government to take Elian by force. In less than 24 hours, the Miami relatives met with At torney General Janet Reno, publicly announced their defiance of her, allowed Elian to speak on TV and ignored a 2 p.m. deadline to deliver him to an air port for return to his father. Since January, Reno and the government have repeatedly extended the deadline for Lazaro Gon zalez to surrender the boy despite a standing order to do so. And this week, the nation’s top law officer took the extraordinary step of flying down herself in a chartered plane to hammer out a settlement. Attorneys for Elian’s father, Juan Miguel Gon zalez, said the Miami relatives had, with their ac tions Thursday, “emotionally damaged and exploited this most wonderful little boy.” “Today, Lazaro Gonzalez defied the nation’s chief law enforcement officers and publicly and bel ligerently refused ' to turn Elian over to his father,” said Gregory Craig, Juan Miguel Gon zalez’s attorney. Today, Lazaro Gonzalez broke the law.” Outside Lazaro Gonzalez’s house in Little Ha vana, a throng several thousand strong massed to protest and, though it would prove unnecessary, pro tect. “War! War! War!” some shouted in Spanish. Others renewed pledges of nonviolence. “While this child remains in this house, there is hope,” Miami-Dade Mayor Alex Penelas said. “We are living very tense moments, perhaps the most tense in the last 25 years.” After the stay was announced, the crowd jubi lantly cried “Victory! ” Salsa music pumped through the neighborhood into the night as cars clogged 20 blocks of city streets, homs honking. “A second miracle is happening in the case of Elian,” said Raul Gonzalez, a 72-year-old accoun tant who lives in the neighborhood. “It seems that God is guiding us.” The stay issued by the 11th Circuit does not specifically prevent the government from trans ferring Elian to his father. But a Justice official, re questing anonymity, said the government gave its word that it wouldn’t. The stay was issued while the 11th Circuit decides whether to hear a full appeal Elian see rage 4 ‘We want no violence. We are a peaceful community.’ Gloria Estefan Singer Bill creating King Day passes House Jtill passes overwhelmingly; also creates Confederate Memorial Day by Jim Davenport The Associated Press By the end of the month, Gov. Jim Hodges could sign a bill creating a holi day for state workers to honor the slain civil rights leader the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. The Republican-controlled House voted 71-32 Thursday morning to pass a bill creating a permanent state holiday honoring the slain civil rights leader. Six weeks ago, House members cre ated racial and political rifts during ran corous debate on the same bill, which al so creates a Confederate Memorial Day holiday. House Republicans, all white, pushed a plans that used the bill to pro tect Confederate monuments and pro claimed the Confederate flag is not a racist symbol. House leaders sent the bill back to the House Judiciary Committee to be salvaged. “I think we made bold step forward in moving in the right direction,” House Speaker David Wilkins, R-Greenville, said. “We just felt it was time and the right thing to do,” House Democratic Mi nority Leader Gilda Cobb-Hunter, D-Or angeburg, said. The vote came as national media turned attention to the Statehouse as law makers took up debate over the fate of the Confederate flag that flies atop the Capitol dome and in its legislative cham bers. National media should “tell people that we are not backwater and that we are not crazy and that we are God-fear ing, patriotic folk who sometimes have (a) different way of thinking and doing things. But we always manage to come around and do the right thing,” Cobb Hunter said. Rep. Jerry Govan, D-Orangeburg, vot ed against the bill, saying he is against ty ing King holiday with a Confederate hol iday. That was the same desire Democratic Gov. Jim Hodges had “This is a step in the right direction,” Hodges said. “I would have preferred a clean bill, but that’s what compromise is all about. This is progress.” Hodges said he was encouraged by the “broad support of both the blacks and whites and the Democrats and Republi cans” on both the King holiday bill and the Confederate flag compromise bill that gained key Senate approval Wednesday. “That’s what you need to get the flag measure resolved. You need support that crosses racial and political lines,” Hodges said. Previously, South Carolina had of fered employees an option of a King hol iday or one of three holidays honoring Confederate figures. State offices remained open. The bill now needs a routine third reading in the House and for the Senate to go along with a House amendment that sets the King holiday as the third Mon day in January, instead of Jan. 15. News Briefs ■ N.H. house votes for impeachment inquiry into high court Concord, N.H. (AP) — The New Hampshire House voted overwhelming ly Thursday to open an impeachment in quiry into New Hampshire’s Supreme Court justices, deepening a constitution al crisis that began over a divorce case. Lawmakers decided 343-7 to au thorize the first impeachment probe of a New Hampshire judge in 210 years. The crisis has brought down one mem ber of the high court already and threat ens three of the four remaining justices. “The court’s been sinking its own ship pretty well,” said Rep. Paul Mirs ki, sponsor of the legislation. “We’ve got to let the committee go where it can go. This stuff is just going to continue to erupt.” ■ Bush, McCain to meet in Pittsburgh Washington (AP) — Texas Gov. George W. Bush and one-time Republi can primary rival John McCain will meet May 9 in Pittsburgh, the first time the two men have met since their struggle for the GOP presidential nomination end ed. Bush said today he wants McCain’s endorsement, but doesn’t know if he’ll win official backing during the planned meeting. “Of course I want his support, but I don’t know if it will happen as a result of die meeting,” Bush told reporters in Austin when asked if he was looking for an en dorsement. “John wants to visit I want to visit.” > * ■ Russia charges American with spying * MOSCOW (AP) — Russian authorities S have charged a former U.S. Navy officer with espionage after holding him in a jj Moscow prison for more than a week, J saying he had tried to obtain military J secrets, officials said Thursday. The U.S. Embassy has identified the { American as Edmond Pope, but Russian ! authorities have consistently refused to j identify him or a Russian man arrested as j an alleged accomplice. ■* 5.5 oz. Assorted Varieties Lay’s Potato Chips |BUY0NE,GET0HE| I SAVE h-FonZ BONNARD Half Gallon Assorted Varieties BI-LO Ice Cream BUY OHE, GET ONE] I SAVE I m mw * J "1 A >$279°^ 8 oz. 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