I wonder if this is part of the reason why the Pentagon essentially announced an end to the combat phase of the invasion of Iraq. It would make it easier, when rounding up militants, to no longer have to provide for them under the Geneva convention if you consider your combat complete. Plus, this has the added benefit of any guerrillas picked up there being placed in a murky legal status, such as Palestinian guerrilla leader Abu Abbas.
For instance, under what jurisdiction would he fall? Israel would be interested in him, I am sure, as would Italy. Yet Israel, from the tone of the article, would have been able to arrest him some time ago, since they were aware of and allowed his movement in to Palestinian areas in Gaza. Italy, potentially, if we extradite him. But under what legal status would the US have picked him up in the first place?
Of course, it seems more likely he would just disappear, like plenty of others have. That’s certainly easier than dealing with murky legal questions.