Naser

MEMORANDUM *

Mohammad Tahir Naser, an ethnic Tajik and Shiite Moslem citizen of Afghanistan, appeals from the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) denial of his motion for reconsideration of the BIA’s denial of his motion to reopen his asylum and withholding of deportation proceedings. The BIA ruled that it had not erred in its earlier denial for untimeliness of Naser’s second motion to reopen. There it had reasoned that Naser “had not presented evidence of materially changed circumstances that would affect his asylum claim,” and alternately found that the Taliban’s fall from power eliminated any potential risk to Naser. We have jurisdiction pursuant to former 8 U.S.C. § 1105a, and the transitional rules set forth in section 309(c) of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, Pub.L. No. 104-208, 110 Stat. 3009 (1996), as amended by the Act of October 11, 1996, Pub.L. No. 104-302, 110 Stat. 3656. We review the BIA’s denial of a motion to reopen or reconsider for abuse of discretion, see Salta v. INS, 314 F.3d 1076, 1078 (9th Cir.2002), and grant the petition.

The BIA abused its discretion by failing to take notice of the evidence of changed country…