VIRGINIA BRIEFING

LOUDOUN COUNTY

8 Accused of Buying Teen Alcohol

Eight people were arrested in Sterling Park on Friday night and charged with buying alcohol for a teenager, authorities said yesterday. The 19-year-old was working undercover for the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office.

Over a six-hour period, the teenage volunteer asked people entering a convenience store to buy alcohol for her, the sheriff's office said.

"The public needs to know that . . . we are watching, and we are doing everything possible to protect the citizens of Loudoun County from alcohol related crimes," Sheriff Stephen O. Simpson (I) said in a statement. "These operations will continue until we have 100% compliance."

The Loudoun chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving assisted in the operation, which resulted in the arrests of seven others on narcotics and other charges.

-- Bill Brubaker

U.S. DISTRICT COURT

Man Arraigned in Terrorism Case

A former Florida professor who pleaded guilty to aiding a terrorist organization was arraigned yesterday in federal court in Alexandria on charges that he refused to testify before a grand jury investigating whether Islamic charities in Northern Virginia were financing terrorists.

Sami al-Arian, who taught computer science at the University of South Florida, smiled and mouthed greetings to about 10 supporters in the courtroom, including three of his five children.