Ghrair

MEMORANDUM **

Ghrair Ghrair petitions this court for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ denial of his request for asylum and withholding of removal. 1 We affirm the decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals and deny the petition for review.

Ghrair has not presented evidence “ ‘so compelling that no reasonable factfinder could find’ that Petitioner has not established eligibility for asylum.” Singh v. INS, 134 F.3d 962, 966 (9th Cir.1998) (quoting INS v. Elias-Zacarias, 502 U.S. 478, 483-84 , 112 S.Ct. 812 , 117 L.Ed.2d 38 (1992)). He has not established that the persecution he experienced by smugglers, who kidnapped him twice in an effort to use his truck for illegal smuggling activities, was on account of a protected ground. See INA § 101(a)(42)(A), 8 U.S.C. § 1101 (a)(42)(A). Although he claims that the smugglers targeted him because he is a Christian, he conceded during his asylum *116 hearing that the smugglers stopped Muslim truck drivers as well as Christians.

Ghrair also failed to establish evidence of a link between the smugglers and the Syrian government, or an inability on the part of the government to control the smugglers. See Sangha v. INS, 103 F.3d…