President Al-Sharaa celebrates Syria’s removal from terror financing list by using credit card in Damascus

President Al-Sharaa celebrates Syria’s removal from terror financing list by using credit card in Damascus

RIYADH: Would that be cash or card, Mr. President?

With a simple tap on a payment machine in Damascus, President Ahmed Al-Sharaa marked Syria’s removal from the list of state sponsors of terrorism and the Arab country’s return to the global financial system.

In a video release early Thursday, Al-Sharaa used a Visa card to pay for coffee as he sat with Safwat Raslan, the country’s central bank governor.

Raslan posted the video on X, saying: “To witness this moment with His Excellency President Ahmed Al-Sharaa, and for the first payment using a Visa card to take place in the heart of Damascus on the day following Syria’s removal from the list of state sponsors of terrorism, is, for me, a feeling that is difficult to put into words.”