BY DAVID KIDWELL

 High-level federal law enforcement officials have put together a possible scenario
 for forcibly taking Elian Gonzalez from his Miami home, but insist that many peaceful
 options will be tried before such a ``last-resort'' operation gets the go-ahead.

 ``This is not something that is going to happen today or tomorrow,'' said one
 federal law enforcement source familiar with the planning. ``And it's not a hard
 and fast plan, but the attorney general does intend to enforce the law.''

 Even in the face of defiant rhetoric from Elian's Miami family members and
 protesters, Reno has promised no sneak attacks. No late night roustings. No
 surprises, sources said.

 The most likely scenario -- should negotiations break down completely -- would
 be for a large number of immigration officers and U.S. marshals to establish a
 crowd-control perimeter around the Little Havana home, and then for a small,
 mostly female corps of casually dressed agents to approach the door.

 ``No weapons drawn, no confrontations, nothing obtrusive,'' the high-level source
 said. ``In that unlikely event, the Miami family has agreed to step aside. People
 have been talking about this for months, but it only became serious in the past
 two weeks.''

 CROWD IS KEY

 Federal authorities are less concerned with defiance from the family than with the
 unpredictable behavior of an emotional crowd. ``That's why we would need to
 count on help from the Miami Police,'' a law enforcement source said.

 The high-level sources emphasize that Attorney General Janet Reno is
 determined to exhaust all options toward a diplomatic resolution. Still, they said,
 she is firm in her resolve to reunite the 6-year-old with his father ``in the very near
 future.''

 Thomas Scott, the U.S attorney in Miami, was asked by the Justice Department
 to prepare a plan listing several options for carrying out the boy's return to Cuba.
 Though Scott was instructed to include a forcible removal plan as a last resort, he
 balked at doing so until recently, the sources said.

 Scott was concerned that any such plan could prompt violence in Miami but he
 agreed to participate after assurances that the Justice Department would do what
 it could to avoid using it.

 ACTING RESPONSIBLY

 Reno emphasized the point Thursday, shortly before a government-imposed 2
 p.m. deadline for the family to voluntarily transfer custody of Elian.

 ``We have the authority to take action,'' she said, ``but responsible authority
 means not only knowing when to take action, but how and when to take that
 action.''

 A member of Reno's inner circle said the attorney general's 2 p.m. deadline was
 never imposed with the idea that federal authorities would forcibly remove Elian
 from the home. Instead, the deadline was one in a series of maneuvers aimed at
 getting the family to voluntarily relinquish Elian and resolve the impasse over
 custody.

 The deadline put the family in violation of a legal order from the U.S. government
 and opened the door for yet another government move -- seeking a federal court
 order holding Lazaro Gonzalez in contempt if he doesn't turn over the child.

 Reno's visit to Miami was another gambit aimed at persuading the family.
 Sources said she wanted to personally gauge the situation in her hometown,
 reach out to a community stretched to its emotional limit and meet with two
 doctors appointed to advise her on Elian's emotional well-being.

 LIST OF OPTIONS

 If, after a personal visit from the attorney general, the family was still defiant she
 planned to deliver the deadline letter. If that failed -- as it did -- Reno came with no
 set course of action but a ``laundry list'' of options, a source said.

 Among those options:

 A family meeting either in Miami, Washington D.C., or a neutral location to try to
 get the family to agree on Elian's fate.

 A court decree transfering custody to the father to cement the government's legal
 position.

 Pleas to community leaders for help in persuading the family and maintaining the
 peace.

 ``The important thing here is that there is still dialogue,'' one federal source said.
 ``We're still talking and there are still plenty of options left to explore. That's good
 news.''

 ``The last thing Janet Reno wants to see on the front page of every paper in the
 country is a picture of a crying little boy being carried from that home by a federal
 agent,'' said one high-level FBI source. ``On the other hand, she cannot allow
 herself to be perceived as a toothless tiger. She is in a very, very difficult
 position.''

                     Copyright 2000 Miami Herald