Australia war hero appeals civil court ruling of complicity in Afghan murders

FILE PHOTO: Britain's Queen Elizabeth II greets Australian SAS Corporal Ben Roberts-Smith (L), who was recently awarded the Victoria Cross for Australia, during an audience at Buckingham Palace in London November 15, 2011. REUTERS/Anthony Devlin/POOL/File Photo

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia's most decorated living war veteran lodged an appeal on Tuesday against a civil court defamation ruling that found he played a part in the murder of four Afghans while serving in Afghanistan, court records showed.

Former SAS corporal Ben Roberts-Smith, who won Australia's highest military honour the Victoria Cross for his actions in Afghanistan, had sued three newspapers and their journalists over articles which accused him of killing unarmed Afghan civilians outside the rules of war.