Washington ? President Bush said Thursday the Geneva Convention applies to Taliban prisoners but not to captured al-Qaida terrorists as he sought to quell international outcry without changing the way Afghan war detainees are treated.

“They have always been treated consistent with the principles of the Geneva Convention, which means they will be treated well,” White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said.

The Bush administration, pledging to abide by the “values and principles” of the 1949 Geneva Convention, took the largely symbolic step in part to ease international complaints about the imprisonment of more than 180 fighters at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba.

But Bush refused to consider classifying al-Qaida or Taliban fighters as prisoners of war, denying them a wide range of rights and privileges afforded to POWs under the Geneva Convention.

The president settled that key POW issue weeks ago, leaving the question of whether the conflict in Afghanistan and the detainees fall under the Geneva pacts.

In saying the conflict did apply, Bush sought to preserve protections afforded U.S. troops if they are captured in Afghanistan or elsewhere during the war on terrorism, administration officials said.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Bush took the step because it “could be considered a precedent for the future.”

“The United States has from the outset, is now and will in the future be treating detainees in a way that is humane and consistent with the Geneva Convention,” Rumsfeld said.

Shortly after the White House announced Bush’s decision, the Guantanamo Bay facility received 28 new prisoners from Afghanistan. They are kept in chain-link cells that critics call cages. In addition, U.S. forces hold 324 detainees in Kandahar.

For weeks, even as the Geneva Convention was not necessarily guiding U.S. actions, the Guantanamo Bay detainees received three meals a day, medical care, clothing, shelter, showers and opportunity to worship, Fleischer said. The president’s decision Thursday will not change those conditions, he said.

Bush ruled that the Geneva Convention applies to the Taliban detainees because Afghanistan is a party to the convention. Al-Qaida fighters are not covered because they are part of an international terrorist group, the president determined.

The Taliban fighters did not meet standards outlined in the Geneva Convention to be considered POWs, Fleischer said.

“The Taliban have not effectively distinguished themselves from civilian population of Afghanistan. Moreover, they have not conducted their operations in accordance with the laws and customs of war,” he said.

Bush does not want the detainees to get taxpayer-funded stipends and musical instruments afforded to POWs, he said.

His Cabinet unanimously opposed the POW designation, but Secretary of State Colin Powell pushed Bush to apply other provisions of the Geneva Convention.

Michael Noone, professor at Catholic University law school and an expert on the Geneva Convention, said Bush’s decision will have no effect on U.S. operations, either in Afghanistan or at Guantanamo.

“What this does is it clarifies some of the things the U.S. has said before in a way that intends to respond to domestic and international criticism of the United States’ failure to comply with the Geneva Convention rules,” Noone said.

The Geneva Convention, which is actually a series of treaties, was intended to regulate wars between nations and rebellions or insurgencies within a nation. The administration has struggled to apply it to the modern war on terrorism.

Noone said the convention offers little guidance about the treatment of prisoners, other than those considered POWs.

“If somebody is picked up in a war and doesn’t qualify as a POW, the assumption is that that person will be treated humanely and that’s as far as it goes,” he said.

Prisoners of war are the rough legal equivalents of American soldiers. They are required only to give the familiar name, rank and service number, and may not be further questioned against his will. Unlawful combatants, on the other hand, may be questioned at length so long as they are not tortured or otherwise mistreated.

Some people have argued that some Taliban figures might qualify for status as legal combatants, as defined by the Geneva Convention, and therefore are entitled to POW status. One such figure could be Mullah Fazel Mazloom, the Taliban army chief of staff who is among those held at Guantanamo Bay.