NYT Confident in Rwandan Government Assertion that Peter Erlinder Attempted Suicide. Why?

A few hours ago the NYT went up with "Rwanda Says Jailed American Tried to Kill Himself" by Jeffrey Gettleman and Josh Kron. It begins:

The American lawyer jailed by the authorities in Rwanda last week on accusations of denying the nation’s genocide tried to kill himself with a pill overdose in his cell, officials there said Wednesday, and he now may face a new charge under Rwandan law: attempted suicide.

The AP presents a somewhat more cautious lede in "Police: US lawyer held in Rwanda attempts suicide" by Steve Karnowski and Edmund Kagire:

A U.S. law professor jailed in Rwanda and charged with denying the country's genocide tried to commit suicide by swallowing dozens of pills in his prison cell, Rwandan officials said Wednesday, but his daughter said his family doesn't believe the claim.

An earlier version of the AP story had put it differently, putting the "Rwandan police say" up front, though at that point they didn't yet have the questioning statement from family:

Rwandan police say an American lawyer jailed on charges of denying Rwanda's 1994 genocide has tried to commit suicide.

The NYT lede strikes me as particularly aggressive and confident, given the source. Sure, the NYT won't get in trouble per se if this turns out to be wrong, as they're not quite saying it in their own words, instead attributing it to Rwandan officials.

But when you start your lede out with such a strong statement, followed by "officials said", you are giving the claim a huge statement of credibility. This is how news works. This is the kind of fairly definitive language you use when you have reason to believe what you're being told is in fact true, and that's why, after all, you're sticking it in front of the readers.

It will be interesting to see if the Times sticks with such strong language for the print edition, and if we find out they did or didn't have any corroborating information to give this assertion credibility.

Update: Colored Opinions weighs in with skepticism of the AP's Edmund Kagire.
Update 2: Team Erlinder in Rwanda says it's not true. Obviously this is no proof, but it's worth reporting.
Update 3: Surprise, NYT did not change the lede for the print edition.