FILED
NOT FOR PUBLICATION JUL 07 2010
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS U .S. C O U R T OF APPE ALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
NASSER ALI SALIM AL HAJRI, No. 06-71135
Petitioner, Agency No. A079-569-802
v.
MEMORANDUM *
ERIC H. HOLDER, Jr., Attorney General,
Respondent.
On Petition for Review of an Order of the
Board of Immigration Appeals
Submitted June 17, 2010 **
San Francisco, California
Before: HAWKINS, FISHER and TYMKOVICH, Circuit Judges.***
Nasser Ali Salim Al Hajri petitions for review of a decision of the Board of
Immigration Appeals (BIA) affirming an Immigration Judge’s (IJ) denial of his
*
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3.
**
The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision
without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).
***
The Honorable Timothy M. Tymkovich, United States Circuit Judge for
the Tenth Circuit, sitting by designation.
application for asylum, withholding of removal and relief under the United Nations
Convention Against Torture (CAT). We deny the petition.
“We lack jurisdiction to review the BIA’s determination that no
‘extraordinary circumstances’ excused [Al Hajri’s] untimely filing of his
application for asylum.” Molina-Estrada v. INS, 293 F.3d 1089, 1093 (9th Cir.
2002) (citing 8 U.S.C. § 1158(a)(3)).
The BIA based its adverse credibility finding on substantial evidence and
inconsistencies that went to the heart of the claim. See Li v. Holder, 559 F.3d
1096, 1102 (9th Cir. 2009). Al Hajri dissembled during cross-examination and
failed to explain numerous discrepancies between his asylum application and his
testimony during direct examination. These conflicts concerned his principal
arrest, as well as the number, location and timing of other arrests.
Substantial evidence also supports the BIA’s determination that Al Hajri
failed to establish a clear probability of persecution in either the Democratic
Republic of the Congo or Oman. Al Hajri presented minimal relevant
documentary evidence outside of general country conditions. Without credible
testimony, the BIA had a sufficient basis to conclude that Al Hajri failed to carry
his burden. See Shrestha v. Holder, 590 F.3d 1034, 1048 (9th Cir. 2010); Zehatye
v. Gonzales, 453 F.3d 1182, 1186 (9th Cir. 2006).
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Finally, the BIA based its determination that Al Hajri is not eligible for CAT
relief on substantial evidence. Although “a CAT applicant may satisfy his burden
with evidence of country conditions alone,” Aguilar-Ramos v. Holder, 594 F.3d
701, 705 (9th Cir. 2010), country conditions do not show that individuals of Arabic
descent are routinely tortured in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
DENIED.
3