Mar 17, 2008 (AP), The UN human rights investigator on Burma said Saturday he will not visit the Asian country before the end of his mandate.

Paulo Sergio Pinheiro says an earlier announcement that he had been granted a visa was a misunderstanding. Burma has refused to let the UN-appointed rights expert visit since his trip there in November.

Pinheiro, who spoke to The Associated Press on Saturday, has strongly criticized Burma’s military government for last year’s deadly crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators, and says he does not believe the government’s claim it’s paving the way for free elections.

Pinheiro’s mandate as an independent expert on Burma is due to end soon with the appointment of a successor by the UN Human Rights Council.