The Australian reports that it was only in July that an advisor to Australia’s then-Foreign Minister Julie Bishop began to ask questions about the role Australian citizens are playing in the Yemen war, as revealed in emails released through a Freedom of Information Act request.

“Has anyone heard about this ­previously?” the advisor asked in an email with a link to a blog post about the mercenaries. Staff from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade responded, saying there may have been a “vague accusation” made in the past.

The Australian reports the government does not appear to have been contacted by the ICC. “Under Australian law, it is an offence to engage in a hostile ­activity in a foreign country, unless serving in or with the armed forces of the government of a foreign country,” a DFAT spokesman told the news outlet.
Australian-UAE connections

The commander of the UAE’s Presidential Guard is an Australian general called Mike Hindmarsh, who reports directly to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan. The Presidential Guard directs the UAE’s campaign in Yemen.

READ MORE: ‘Reassess UK-UAE ties’: British student charged with spying on Gulf state

In 2015, it was reported that Australian Phil Stitman was killed along with Colombian mercenaries in Yemen. They had been fighting alongside mercenaries from the US company Blackwater at the time. In 2016, reports of another Australian killed emerged in Yemeni media, which identified him as Jack Richardson.

via Australian govt ‘took months to realise’ its citizens were being accused of war crimes in Yemen — RT World News