'I have good news for you... Today the visa has been issued and my passport will be returned this afternoon,' special rapporteur Paulo Sergio Pinheiro told journalists in Geneva.

'That's a wonderful surprise.' News of the visa came mid-way through a press conference at which Pinheiro elaborated on his report this week to the Human Rights Council which was sharply critical of Myanmar.

Mr Pinheiro, a Brazilian diplomat and legal scholar, said he did not know when he would go to Myanmar, or whether he would prepare a new report - given that his seven-year mandate expires this month.

Myanmar's representative on the Human Rights Council had stated that his government could not grant a visa as it was too busy preparing a constitutional referendum in May designed to pave the way for elections in 2010.

On human rights in Myanmar, Mr Pinheiro said on Friday: 'There's a contradiction between what the government says that it is doing and what is really happening.'

'Despite all the attention to the terrible crackdown, the government did not pay any attention to the Security Council nor the Human Rights Council' which had both condemned last year's violent crackdown on dissent.

While he said he did not expect rapid change, 'the problem with this country is that they don't even give small concessions. I'm always asking for small concessions, but they are not able to do that'.

In his report to the Human Rights Council, the special rapporteur said around 1,850 political prisoners were behind bars as of January in Myanmar, as the government 'accelerated' rather than stopped unlawful arrests.

He said he had continued to get reports of arrests made in relation to sweeping anti-government demonstrations last year, as well as allegations of abuse relating to the arrests. -- AFP