By Charles Haviland BBC News, Colombo

	Hundreds of Tamil and Muslim civilians gathered to give evidence in the east

On Wednesday the defence ministry had prohibited the BBC from travelling to cover the current hearings in northern Sri Lanka’s main city, Jaffna.

Sri Lanka's decades-long civil war was centred around the north of the island.

The government says this commission will look into the final years of the ethnic war and make recommendations to stop another one happening.

But the defence ministry has twice blocked the BBC from travelling to northern Sri Lanka to report the testimonies of ordinary Tamil civilians before the seven-member panel.

	Rasiah Ilantherian's wife (c) said her husband is missing since he was arrested in May, 2009

Now, however, three days after the latest ban, the office of the Sri Lankan president has informed the BBC that it is henceforth free to cover the commission sittings wherever they take place.

On numerous occasions in recent months the BBC has been barred from travelling to the area of northern Sri Lanka beyond the town of Vavuniya.

The area is heavily militarised but the government says positive development and resettlement activity is going on.

The large refugee camps are gradually emptying but they too are off-limits to journalists.

Even though it now seems the war commission’s hearings can be covered in the north, it is not clear whether more general media access to the region will be eased.