Sept 28, Colombo: The first convoy of food supplies since the aid workers pulled out on 16 September will travel under the UN flag to LTTE-held areas of Sri Lanka's North in the next few days, the UN Resident Representative in Sri Lanka, Neil Buhne said on Friday.

"The key for us is to get the distribution right, and to get food directly to those who need it most. The success of the first convoy is important, because it will shape those that follow it," Buhne said.

UN officials are to accompany the convoy and supervise until the distribution is completed.

"The supplies will not be offloaded at warehouses, so the convoy will travel directly to where the IDPs are staying and distribute the supplies," Buhne said.

"We're still determining the precise route, but it will be to the east of Kilinochchi,” he added.

Despite that no new supplies had reached the rebel areas since the pull-out, the UN official said that the situation is still satisfactory.

"At the moment the situation in the area is okay ... there was some fear because no supplies had come [into the Vanni] after the relocation,… but after the new convoy arrives things will get better," Buhne told the UN news agency IRIN.

The World Food Programme (WFP) convoy will be the first since UN and other international agencies were ordered by the Sri Lankan government to evacuate the LTTE controlled areas in the North.