From staff and wire reports

                  MIAMI (CNN) -- The Cuban grandmothers of 6-year-old Elian Gonzalez
                  attended the Riverside Church in New York on Sunday, but negotiations in
                  Miami and New York left uncertain whether they would meet with their
                  grandson before they return to Cuba.

                  Elian Gonzalez has been staying with his great-uncle in Miami since he was
                  picked up in an inner tube off the Florida coast on Thanksgiving. He was
                  one of three survivors of a group of 14 Cubans who tried to make it to
                  Florida in a small boat.

                  His grandmothers -- Mariela Quintana and Raquel Rodriguez -- flew to
                  New York on Friday to plead with U.S. officials for his return to Cuba.
                  They held out hope for a reunion with their grandson on Sunday before they
                  fly back to Havana.

                  "We only have Sunday to see Elian, and we not only want to see him, but we
                  also want to return with him to Cuba," the grandmothers' statement said.

                  At Riverside, the two women were accompanied by representatives of the
                  National Council of Churches. As people in the church sang, the women, who
                  do not speak English, were quiet. They did acknowledge embraces and smiles
                  from others.

                  During the 75-minute service, conducted by the Rev. Brenda Stiers, the
                  National Council of Churches official Robert Edgar asked the congregation
                  to pray for the women. Afterwards, the grandmothers stood on the steps of
                  the Gothic church as photos were taken. They said nothing.

                  Although Elian's Florida relatives have invited the grandmothers to visit
                  him in Miami, the two grandmothers had said they would not travel there.
                  They said they feared they could become targets of Cuban-American
                  anti-Castro protesters or ensnared in an ever-widening web of legal actions.

                  But a Cuban-American radio station owner, Jorge Rodriquez, said he
                  contacted the boy's great-uncle Saturday night to see if the family would be
                  interested in arranging a meeting. He says the great-uncle, Lazaro Gonzalez,
                  told him the family would welcome the help.

                  Rodriquez owns radio station WWFE in Miami. He says he has previously
                  known Elian's uncle, prompting him to make the offer.

                  Grandmothers take case to Reno

                  Rodriquez says he is working with two ministers in Miami's Little Havana
                  neighborhood and with the Rev. Joan Brown Campbell, a former leader with
                  the National Council of Churches. It was the council that brought Elian's
                  grandmothers to New York for a meeting with U.S. Attorney General Janet
                  Reno and Immigration and Naturalization Service Commissioner Doris
                  Meissner.

                  Quintana, Elian's paternal grandmother, and Rodriguez, his maternal
                  grandmother, made "a very compassionate and heartfelt plea" for their
                  grandson's return to Cuba on Saturday, said. But Reno said the matter now
                  is in federal court.

                  The grandmothers made no public comment on the talks, but released a
                  written statement calling for his return.

                  "We maintain that the law recognizes the unique relationship between parent
                  and child and that family reunification has long been a cornerstone of U.S.
                  immigration law as well as Immigration and Naturalization Service practice,"
                  Reno said.

                  "For us, the significance of returning Elian to his family will honor his mother's
                  memory, return the family to normality, and more importantly return Elian to
                  the normality of life with his father, brother, family and friends at his school,
                  his toys, dog and parrot," the grandmothers said.

                  Cuba: 'Kidnapping in the open'

                  A top Cuban official, meanwhile, blasted the U.S. for taking so long to make
                  a decision.

                  "It's high time for the U.S. authorities to simply enforce the law," Cuban
                  National Assembly President Ricardo Alarcon told CNN Saturday evening
                  in Havana. "It's as simple as that."

                  Alarcon called the boy's stay of nearly two months with his Miami relatives
                  "the first kidnapping in the open."

                  Immigration officials already have ruled that Elian should be returned to his
                  father in Cuba. That has prompted Elian's Florida relatives to ask a federal
                  judge to block any INS action until a court can rule on their request seeking
                  permanent asylum for Elian in the United States.

                  While the matter goes through the courts, lawmakers in Congress plan an
                  attempt this week to declare Elian a U.S. citizen. If such legislation becomes
                  law, the boy no longer would be an immigrant under INS jurisdiction.

                  Polls in the United States show that a majority of Americans think Elian
                  should be returned to his father. But passions have run high among many
                  Cuban-Americans, who during protests in Miami have vowed that Elian will
                  never be returned to communist Cuba.

                   Correspondent Susan Candiotti and Frank Buckley, The Associated Press and Reuters
                                      contributed to this report.