Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, February 12, 1991                   TAG: 9102120543
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-2   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Short

AFGHANISTAN NATIVE CLAIMS LOTTO PRIZE

Amin Arsala said he didn't know he had won until Sunday night.

"I hadn't bothered to check my ticket . . . " he said.

Arsala, 30, purchased the winning ticket at a deli in Arlington. He said he let the computer choose the winning combination of 11-17-2230-32-40.

Arsala, a native of Afghanistan who has lived in the United States for eight years, is employed as a maintenance worker at a motel.

He received his first payment Monday of $414,206 after taxes. He will receive an additional 19 annual payments of $417,240.

- Associated Press