Ahmed

MEMORANDUM **

Shad Ahmed Syed (“Syed”), a citizen of Pakistan, petitions for review of the denial *219 by the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) and Immigration Judge (“IJ”) of his claims for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under Article 3 of the United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Unhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (“CAT”). We grant the petition for review. Because the parties are familiar with the factual and procedural history of this case, we will not recount it here.

The INS argues that Syed failed to establish a credible fear in light of the fact that his initial statements made to the Border Patrol Officer provide a basis to discredit his subsequent testimony that he provided in his application and at his hearing for relief. We rejected this argument in Singh v. INS, 292 F.3d 1017, 1021-23 (2002) by drawing a significant distinction between an alien’s statements made in an application or hearing for asylum and those statements given to an INS officer who is conducting an interview at the border. Thus, the BIA’s reliance on this factor was inappropriate. Singh, 292 F.3d at 1021 (concluding “that the Board’s reliance on Singh’s…