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Indonesia rejects an Australian proposal for a prisoner swap made in an 11th hour effort to save the lives of two Australian drug smugglers expected to face a firing squad within days. Yiming Woo reports.Reuters

A senior Indonesian official warned Australia to tone down criticism of planned executions of two convicted Australian drug traffickers, saying that Canberra should be grateful to Indonesia for keeping asylum seekers away from Australian shores.

The minister for political, legal and security affairs, Tedjo Edy Purdjianto, said at a seminar Tuesday that if about 10,000 illegal migrants who have been stopped in Indonesia from reaching Australia were allowed to proceed, "there will be a human tsunami in Australia."

He criticized Australia's continuing pressure on Indonesia to spare the lives of the two men facing firing squads along with eight other convicts — seven foreigners and an Indonesian. Authorities are waiting for them to exhaust legal appeals before setting execution dates.

Australians Andrew Chan, 31, and Myuran Sukumaran, 33, were flown last week from the resort island of Bali to the Nusakambangan Island prison off the main island of Java, where executions are carried out.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott responded Wednesday by saying he isn't picking fights with anyone. He said he understood that Indonesian officials wanted to crack down on drug crime in the country.

"But these two individuals, because they're reformed, have now become an asset in Indonesia's fight against drug crime, and that's why I think it would be counterproductive to execute them," Abbott said.

Chan and Sukumaran were the ringleaders of a gang of nine Australians dubbed "the Bali Nine." They were arrested in April 2005 after a tip-off from Australian police while trying to smuggle more than 8 kilograms (18 pounds) of heroin from Bali to Sydney. The rest have been sentenced to prison terms.

Indonesia executed six drug convicts including foreigners in January, drawing protests from Brazil and the Netherlands, which withdrew their ambassadors after their citizens were denied last-minute clemency appeals. More than 130 people are on death row, including 57 drug convicts.

Purdjianto said that Indonesia's anti-drugs agency had just recently foiled an attempt to smuggle 862 kilograms (1,900 pounds) of crystal methamphetamine to Australia.

"They (Australia) should have to thank us," he said.

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