Nicaragua appoints US-sanctioned Gaddafi nephew as ambassador to Bahrain

A nephew of disgraced former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi has been appointed by the Nicaraguan government as its envoy in Bahrain, according to reports in Nicaraguan media.

Mohamed Mohamed Ferrara Lashtar, who is a naturalised Nicaraguan citizen, will reportedly serve as ambassador to the Gulf country in the latest string of similar roles allocated to him, according to a presidential agreement published in the country’s official gazette cited by the Nicaraguan weekly Confidencial on Thursday.

Lashtar was also appointed by the Nicaraguan government as a diplomatic representative to both Tunisia and Turkey in March and April this year, respectively.

He had worked as a special ambassador for international affairs and as "a representative for Africa, the Middle East and Arab countries", according to Confidencial.

The diplomat, who was described by the weekly as a "close political operator" of Daniel Ortega’s Sandinista government, had also been appointed as ambassador to Kuwait, Egypt, Algeria and Saudi Arabia on behalf of the Central American country.

Gaddafi's nephew undertook such roles despite being sanctioned by the US Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) since 15 November 2021, for being "an official of the Government of Nicaragua or having served as an official of the Government of Nicaragua at any time on or after January 10, 2007".

The time frame coincides with Ortega’s years-long presidency, which has been described as  "authoritarian" by the opposition and a number of Western countries.

Moreover, the move to sanction him was carried out in an alleged response to the national elections that took place in the same month that year in Nicaragua, which saw Ortega elected for a fourth consecutive term as president, according to Lebanese outlet Al-Akhbar.

The election was widely condemned by the likes of the European Union, the United States and the Community of Latin and Caribbean States, who called it a "sham".

In addition to being sanctioned, United States investigator Douglas Farah mentioned him on 6 February 2023 as a key member "in a network of illicit gold launderers in the international market, which operates as an alleged source of financing for the Ortega-Murillo government".

It is unclear when the Libyan acquired Nicaraguan nationality, though Confidencial said that Lashtar had previously worked  "between 2007 and 2011 as an alternate deputy in the Central American Parliament for Jacinto Suarez".

It also remains unclear how close Lashtar was to the late dictator Gaddafi, who was killed in a NATO-backed uprising in 2011.