The Indonesians - Imam Samudra, Mukhlas and Amrozi - face a firing squad for two nightclub blasts on the resort island in which more than 200 people died, after the country's Supreme Court rejected their final appeal in September.

Last week, lawyers for the three handed over documents to the Cilacap District Court, requesting a second judicial review of their case by the Supreme Court.

Although a second case review is not possible under existing laws, the execution would have to wait until the request is rejected, a spokesman for the attorney general's office, Mr Bonaventura Daulat Nainggolan, said on Tuesday.

'We need to wait until all legal processes are out of the way before we can proceed with the execution,' Mr Nainggolan said by telephone.

'It all depends on the court. If it doesn't reject it straight away but decides to examine the request first, it would certainly stretch the date of the execution.'

A 30-day period for the militants to request clemency from the president or be executed expires early next month, Mr Nainggolan said.

The three bombers, who are held in the country's maximum security prison on an island off Java, have repeatedly said they will not appeal to the president for clemency, saying they want to die as martyrs.

Mr Achmad Michdan, who heads the legal defence for the militants, said their efforts should not be interpreted as a cowardly act to slow down the execution.

'This is about restoring the legal supremacy in the country. We are not living in the jungle, the laws need to be applied as they are and not changed to anyone's desire,' Mr Michdan said.

The lawyers argue that anti-terrorism laws, which were written in the wake of the 2002 attacks, should not be applied retrospectively. -- REUTERS