The 1949 Geneva Convention sets forth four requirements for fighters to be considered combatants, who are entitled to the protections of the law of war and POW status if captured:
1) They must be commanded by one responsible for their conduct. 2) They must have a fixed and distinctive sign that is recognizable at a distance.* 3) They must bear arms openly.* 4) They must follow the law of war. * There is a Protocol to the treaty that blurs the distinction between combatants and non-combatants by not requiring a fixed distinctive sign or that arms be carried openly. The US has not ratified this Protocol. If Al Queda does not follow the Geneva Convention, if it does not adhere to the laws of armed conflict, why should its members be accorded the Convention's protections? BTW, one of North Vietnam's public justifications for its treatment of captured Americans was that it had never signed the 1949 Geneva Convention. john
