  The local structure of (Al_0.06V_0.94)_2O_3 in the paramagnetic insulating
(PI) and antiferromagnetically ordered insulating (AFI) phase has been
investigated using hard and soft x-ray absorption techniques. It is shown that:
1) on a local scale, the symmetry of the vanadium sites in both the PI and the
AFI phase is the same; and 2) the vanadium 3d - oxygen 2p hybridization, as
gauged by the oxygen 1s absorption edge, is the same for both phases, but
distinctly different from the paramagnetic metallic phase of pure V_2O_3. These
findings can be understood in the context of a recently proposed model which
relates the long range monoclinic distortion of the antiferromagnetically
ordered state to orbital ordering, if orbital short range order in the PI phase
is assumed. The measured anisotropy of the x-ray absorption spectra is
discussed in relation to spin-polarized density functional calculations.
