DUBAI (AFP) - The Taliban have adopted rules for the handling of captured infidel fighters, the pan-Arab Al-Jazeera television channel reported on Monday as the Afghan militia continued to hold a US soldier. The rules give the militias leader, Mullah Omar, authority to decide on the fate of its captives according to the strict Islamic sharia rules adopted in the 13-chapter constitution, the Qatar-based television said. If an infidel fighter is captured, he can be killed, exchanged or be offered for ransom, depending on the Muslim interest, the rules stated. The decision was down to the imam or his deputy, the text added, in a reference to the Taliban leader, or a lieutenant. If soldiers surrender to the Mujahedeen, they will not be killed, they will be rewarded if they give up their weapons, it added. Al-Jazeera said the rules of war had been adopted by the Afghan militia on May 9, well before they seized US Private First Class Bowe Bergdahl, 23, posted as missing or captured since July 2. The Taliban militia ruled from Kabul from 1996 until they were evicted by a US-led coalition in 2001 but it has been waging a deadly insurgency since. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were, with Pakistan, the only countries to recognise the legitimacy of the Taliban regime and Saudi Arabia has been the venue for tentative peace talks between Taliban envoys and the Afghan government in recent months.