He says case could drag on

 BY JAY WEAVER

 In an emotional voice, the attorney for Elian Gonzalez's father urged an appeals court
 Monday to put an end to the boy's political asylum bid by his Miami relatives.

 Gregory Craig said the boy's father, Juan Miguel Gonzalez, would have to endure years
 of waiting to return with the 6-year-old to Cuba if the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals orders the
 U.S. government to give Elian an asylum hearing.

 The Washington lawyer -- in his first response to the lawsuit between the child's great-uncle
 Lazaro Gonzalez and the government -- implored the court to consider above all the
 loving relationship between father and son.

 ``Lazaro envisions subjecting Elian to a series of asylum proceedings that could take as long
 as two years to resolve, perhaps even six years,'' Craig wrote. ``To require the INS to
 accept and process Lazaro's asylum application under these circumstances would
 have the effect of forcing Juan Miguel to choose between his country and his son.

 ``The asylum laws should not be interpreted to impose an automatic and lengthy
 restriction on a parent's freedom to raise a family, even if that parent is a Cuban.''

 Elian, who was seized by federal agents from his great-uncle's Little Havana
 home on April 22, is staying with his father at the Wye Plantation on Maryland's
 Eastern Shore. The appellate court has blocked the boy's return to Cuba until his
 appeal is over.

 Lawyers for Lazaro Gonzalez argue that a Miami federal judge made a mistake in
 March when he upheld the Immigration and Naturalization Service's decision that
 Elian was too young to apply for asylum and that only his father could speak for
 him. Juan Miguel Gonzalez, the boy's only surviving parent, asked that the
 application be withdrawn.

 Lazaro Gonzalez's appeal of the federal court decision set the stage for oral
 arguments May 11 before a three-judge appellate panel in Atlanta.

 The great-uncle's lawyers argue that Elian is entitled to apply for asylum --
 regardless of his young age. Key to their argument is a literal interpretation of
 immigration law that says ``any alien . . . may apply for asylum.''

 In their final court papers filed Monday, the lawyers argued that the INS ignored
 the boy's statutory right.

 ``Clearly, the INS' unprincipled approach to Elian's claim was not the result and
 not the process mandated by Congress,'' the filing said.

 The lawyers have submitted evidence that the boy will face persecution when he
 returns with his father to Cuba, including deprogramming. He will have to
 repudiate his late mother and his stepfather, who fled Cuba with him, they said.

 But Craig scoffed at such allegations.

 ``Why should the government interview a child when it is evident even from the
 child's `signature' [on his asylum application] that he has no idea what he is
 doing?'' Craig wrote. ``It is reasonable for the INS to conclude that a child of 6
 cannot express such a fear.''