Indonesia executions: Australia recalls ambassador

Australia has recalled its ambassador from Indonesia after two Australian men were executed for drug smuggling.

Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran were among eight people from several countries executed by firing squad in the early hours of Wednesday on the prison island of Nusakambangan.

Brazil's government also expressed its "deep dismay" at the execution of one of its citizens, Rodrigo Gularte.

But the execution of a Philippine woman was called off at the last minute.

Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso was spared after Philippines officials said a woman she had accused of planting drugs on her was in police custody.

The families of the condemned prisoners paid them final, emotional visits on Tuesday afternoon before the sentences were carried out.

All eight refused offers of blindfolds and were singing together in their final moments, a pastor present at the execution told the Sydney Morning Herald.

Hours after the executions, ambulances left the prison island, taking the prisoners' bodies to their chosen funeral sites in Indonesia or their home countries.

Australia had mounted a lengthy diplomatic campaign to save Chan and Sukumaran, convicted in 2006 of being the ringleaders of a group of Australian heroin traffickers known as the Bali Nine.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said on Tuesday that the executions were "both cruel and unnecessary," adding that Chan and Sukumaran had been "fully rehabilitated" while in prison.

"We respect Indonesia's sovereignty but we do deplore what's been done and this cannot be simply business as usual," he said.

This is the first time Australia has recalled an ambassador from Indonesia, and its first ever recall over the execution of one of its citizens abroad.

Indonesian Attorney General Muhammad Prasetyo defended the executions, saying his country was fighting a "war" on drugs.

Indonesia is an important country to Australia, the BBC's Jon Donnison says, with the two working closely together on asylum seekers and terrorism issues.

Source: bbc Photo: bbc (Australia said Sukumaran and Chan were reformed characters - Sukumaran painted while in prison, creating this self portrait)