ENGHAZI, Libya — The rebel administration that controls much of eastern Libya is distributing guidelines on how its fighters should treat prisoners of war, following a string of allegations that rebels have engaged in unlawful arrests, mistreated captives and killed sub-Saharan Africans wrongly accused of being mercenaries.

The rebels are holding about 300 prisoners, including 10 foreigners, according to the top legal affairs official in the newly created National Transitional Council, Salwa Fawzi al-Deghali.

The rebels say they want to make sure that these and future captives are treated in accordance with the Geneva Conventions governing the humanitarian treatment of prisoners and other victims of war.

The low prisoner count raises questions about what has happened to the scores of alleged mercenaries from sub-Saharan Africa that the rebels earlier reported capturing. The rebels have accused Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi of bringing in thousands of mercenaries, and their fate remains an open question.
Libyan rebels hand out rules on POW treatment | Libya February 17th