Abbott backs off over death row pair

Australian Andrew Chan. File photo / AP

Prime Minister Tony Abbott says he won't be picking a diplomatic fight with Indonesia over death row inmates.

Jakarta could allow asylum seekers to head for Australia in response to any action over the executions of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, an Indonesian minister has warned.

Co-ordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs, Tedjo Edhy Purdijatno, told the Media Indonesia newspaper: "If Canberra is acting funny, Jakarta can surely let the immigrants go to Australia.

Australian Myuran Sukumaran. File photo / AP

"There are more than 10,000 people. If they're let to go to Australia, it is sure to be like a human tsunami."

Abbott said he wanted to find a constructive solution.

"I'm not in the business of picking fights with anyone," he said.

Drug smugglers Chan, 31, and Sukumaran, 33, are on Nusakambangan island, where Indonesia will give them 72 hours notice of their execution. Lawyers will appeal to a court today to have their case for clemency considered.

Abbott said he understood the Indonesian government's desire to crack down on drug crime, as this was his own government's aim.

"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 counter-productive to execute them."

Meanwhile Chan will see his fiancee for the first time since she was turned away from Kerobokan jail on the morning of his departure. Febyanti Herewila arrived at Cilacap port yesterday with other family members of Chan and those of his fellow Bali Nine member Sukumaran.

- AAP