Indonesia rejects prisoner swap

Indonesia yesterday rejected the offer of a prisoner swap proposed by Canberra in an 11th-hour bid to save two Australian drug smugglers facing execution, saying it is determined to put to death those "who have poisoned our nation".

Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, the ringleaders of the so-called "Bali Nine" drug trafficking gang, could be shot within days.

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said she had spoken to her counterpart Retno Marsudi in what was reportedly "a very tense phone call".

"I've spoken to her on a number of occasions about this, and I wanted to explore any other avenues or opportunities to save the lives of these two young men," Bishop told ABC radio.

She said that she had noted there were Australian prisoners in Indonesia and Indonesian prisoners in Australia, and raised the possibility of an exchange of inmates.

However, Indonesia's Attorney-General Muhammad Prasetyo insisted the executions would go ahead and that the offer from Australia was "not relevant".