VIENNA -- A sick refugee baby died after his Kosovar family was forced to travel 500 kilometers in a dispute involving ex-Freedom Party leader Joerg Haider, the governor of Carinthia, according to Austrian press reports Monday.

Seven-month-old Samuel Bardhi, who was born with a heart ailment and defective lungs, was "shunted back and forth" with his family, the magazine Format reported.

The baby had originally been in state care in Carinthia with his parents, Zef and Sofia Bardhi aged 27 and 29, and his three-year-old sister.

In September, Haider threatened to send away all 48 Kosovo refugees in state care in Carinthia unless the Vienna government paid more for their upkeep.

On October 15, mayor of Traiskirchen Fritz Knotzer said the Carinthian government had "deported" refugees to his town just south of Vienna, about 250 kilometers from the Carinthian capital Klagenfurt.

But the main refugee center at Traiskirchen refused to take in the Bardhi family, and they were sent back to Carinthia. They were then taken into private care by a Catholic aid organization.

The Kleine Zeitung newspaper in Carinthia said that Samuel suddenly began bleeding from his nose and mouth on November 19. He was taken to hospital at Klagenfurt with acute pneumonia, and died on November 28.

Just a few days later, the remaining three family members were summoned by the Carinthian foreigners police to be told of their forthcoming deportation.

In Klagenfurt, spokesman of Haider's government Gernot Steiner denied the family had been forced out of his province. They had gone to Traiskirchen "voluntarily". He could see no connection between the journey and the "tragic death", he said.

Meanwhile, 1,300 Austrian judges and public prosectors have signed a letter protesting against onslaughts on their independence by the Freedom Party.

The letter by more than two-thirds of all public prosecutors and judges, published on Monday, spoke of "unconcealed political pressure" on legal inquiries.

The signatories, including several supreme court judges, warned that "independence and separation of powers are in danger". They demanded that all those in public life "preserve and respect principles of the state ruled by law".

The letter followed virulent attacks by the FP which is under investigation in a scandal of alleged misuse of secret police files against its political opponents.

(DPA)