because of the source of confirmation, but because it fits right into the direction most of the intelligence agencies have been taking since the revelation that the French had won out a multi-billion $ contract for air traffic control because the French service had, through various espionage methods, determined the U.S. bidding position and such.
We have a similar story in Germany. Some time ago, an asian country (South Korea if I remember well) was looking for a high speed passenger train. They had to choose between the german ICE and the french TGV. Both trains have nearly the same quality from technical point of view. Korea decided to take the cheaper one. The germans gave an offer and just half an hour later the french gave an offer slightly (just a little bit) cheaper than the germans. France got the order (over 10^9 D-Mark). The german headquarter had instructed their asian office to give the offer with a certain price through unprotected fax. It is said that the fax was wiretapped by the french secret service (allegedly)... Hadmut