Was Reuters Exploited?

Just how reliable are so-called Palestinian “statements?” After Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi was killed in an airstrike last week, Reuters received a fax purportedly from Hamas mourning the arch-terrorist’s death. But now the Jerusalem Post reports that Reuters might have been manipulated by a Fatah loyalist:

According to the Hamas sources, one of Reuters’ Palestinian affairs correspondents is “closely associated” with Abdel Rahim, who was exploiting the news organization to publish lies about Hamas. Hamas also condemned Palestinian Web sites that rushed to quote the supposed Hamas statement without verifying its authenticity.

Reuters has since updated it’s coverage, though there’s no explanation.