Jakarta – Seven suspects who face trial over the 2002 killings of two US nationals in Indonesia's Papua refused to turn up in court Tuesday, arguing that their case should be heard in the easternmost province.

The shooting spree near a gold and copper mine operated by US-owned Freeport McMoRan in remote Papua in August 2002 killed the pair of American teachers as well as their Indonesian colleague.

Chief prosecutor Payaman said judges at the Central Jakarta district court had issued a subpoena that will force the seven, who are currently in detention in the capital, to appear next week.

Among the detainees is Antonius Wamang, who was indicted by a US grand jury in 2004 for the attack and was allegedly a commander of the separatist Free Papua Movement at the time.

"They will be indicted with four counts of crime, including premeditated murder," he told AFP after the hearing. The seven could face the death penalty.

A lawyer for the seven men, Johnson Panjaitan, said on Monday that his clients wanted the trial be held in Papua's Timika, where the attack took place.

Police have said the other six suspects were also members of the Free Papua Movement but Panjaitan said they were "just ordinary people".

Aloy Renwarin, another lawyer for Wamang, claimed earlier this year that Wamang admitted he had fired 30 shots during the attack on the vehicles carrying the American teachers. But Wamang had also implicated the military in the attack, he said.

Prosecutor Payaman said Wamang's testimony about the military's alleged involvement was not contained in the police dossiers nor his indictment.

The seven suspects were arrested in January in an operation involving the US Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Papua-based rights groups have alleged that the military ordered the attack to ensure that Freeport would continue making large cash payments to it for security in and around the mine.

Free Papua Movement rebels have been fighting a sporadic and low-level guerrilla war since 1963 when Indonesia took over the huge mountainous and undeveloped territory from Dutch colonisers.