Berenson is allowed to depart Peru

LIMA, Peru - Three days after barring her exit, Peruvian migration officials gave U.S. parolee Lori Berenson a document Monday clearing her to leave the country with her toddler son to spend the holidays with her family in New York City.

Berenson, 42, was convicted in 2001 of acting as an accomplice to terrorism while aiding the leftist Tupac Amaru rebel group. Despite a court's approval, authorities prevented her from boarding a flight to New York on Friday, saying she needed an additional document.

"She called and said, 'I've got the permission to leave,' and the next step is for her to get on a plane and get here," her father, Mark Berenson, told the Associated Press. He said he did not yet know when his daughter would be flying home for her first trip out of Peru since her 1995 arrest.

When paroled last year, Berenson had served three-quarters of a 20-year prison term.

She admits helping Tupac Amaru rent a safe house where authorities seized weapons after a shootout with the rebels. She insists she didn't know guns were stored there and says she never joined the group.

In 1996, a military court of hooded judges convicted Berenson of treason and sentenced her to life in prison. After U.S. pressure, she was retried by a civilian court.