Last Thursday we reported that President Bush in May issued an executive order that prohibited American lawyers from defending war crime suspects at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) at The Hague, in The Netherlands . We're pleased to report the Administration rescinded a portion of its order.

The U.S. government lifted a ban on American lawyers defending war crimes suspects after talks with the Yugoslav tribunal's president, a court spokesman said Friday. The ban, part of an executive order seeking to halt support of individuals blacklisted by Washington, had derailed two cases since it was made public earlier this week.

But during talks between the Treasury Department and tribunal President Theodor Meron, guarantees were given that lawyers would not be prosecuted for their work at the tribunal, spokesman Jim Landale said. ''Authority has been given by the Treasury for U.S. attorneys to practice here at the tribunal,'' Landale said. ''I don't think we will have any problems in this matter the future.''

The new authorization requires that the U.S. lawyers be paid from funds outside the U.S. and outside the control of any person in the U.S. Also, lawyers have to apply to the U.S. Government for a license to represent the Yugoslav suspects. While there may be some issues remaining to be resolved with the license requirement, this is a definite improvement.