Karusu admits working for Strategic Communication Laboratories

One month after Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves accused Scherzando Karasu of Strategic Communication Laboratories (SCL), a British company that does election campaigns on behalf of the opposition New Democratic Party (NDP), that company and Karusu have parted ways.{{more}}

Last Wednesday when SEARCHLIGHT contacted Karusu on the issue, he said his time with SCL was only in a consultancy role.

He, however, said he didn’t want to comment on the matter out of integrity to the company. Neither did he wish to upset “them” unnecessarily.

“If I was to start blabbering it might well do that,” said Karusu.

He also said he thought the story would have died down by now.

On Tuesday, September 7, Gonsalves called the hosts of the We Fm’s “Shake Up” programme, Elson Crick and Sir Vincent Beache, from London, claiming that he believes that there is a possibility that SCL was “interfering with our [The Office of the Prime Minister] telecommunication”.

He said he was prompted to make the call after he had an “interesting confrontation” with someone that afternoon, who had identified himself as Scherzando Karasu, a journalist working with SCL.

The prime minister said he was accosted by the man, whom he believes to be of Middle Eastern descent, in the hotel lobby where he was staying.

He said that he is sure that SCL did not find out of his whereabouts from his office or the St. Vincent and the Grenadines High Commission in London.

The following week, when SEARCHLIGHT contacted Karusu to get his side of the story with regard to what happened, he said he was there on behalf of SCL, with whom he does consultancy work, and would not characterize his visit to the hotel where the Prime Minister was staying as an accostment.

“It was extremely deferential, and respectful, and polite and good natured from my perspective,” said Karusu.

He, however, declined to comment further on the matter.

A check on LinkedIn gave a profile of Karusu as a freelance writer who specializes in emerging market, business, macroeconomic and political analysis. The site also stated that he is a consultant at Strategic Communication Laboratories and a former Editorial Manager at Oxford Business Group, a former Egyptian Editorial Project Manager and Journalist at QCP Ltd, and a former Associate Publisher Asia Pacific at Financial Times.(HN)