A₄ symmetry and prediction of U_(e3) in a modified Altarelli-Feruglio model

We show that a modification of a recently proposed model by Altarelli and Feruglio with softly broken $A_4$ symmetry leads naturally to nonvanishing $U_{e3}$ with $\theta_{13}\simeq 2^o - 4^o$. The observed mass squared differences for solar and atmospheric neutrinos have been fitted without fine tuning among model parameters. The predicted solar neutrino mixing angle is brought down from the tri-bimaximal prediction to be in concordance with the latest global analysis including experimental data from KamLAND and SNO.