HIGHLIGHTS: Task Force Seriously Concerned about Humanitarian Situation in PA Areas||Group to Meet Again in Two Week's Time in New York||Palestinians Reject U.S. Vote Idea|| STORY: An international task force helping Palestinian authorities reform said Friday it was seriously concerned about conditions in Palestinian territories and called for humanitarian workers to be granted unfettered access.

In a statement wrapping up two days of talks in Paris, the task force also said support from international donors was "critical to building the foundations of a viable, independent Palestinian state living side-by-side in peace and security with Israel."

The task force groups the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia along with donors Japan, Norway, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The group first met July 10 in London.

During the Paris talks, task force officials met with Palestinian ministers and Israeli government representatives to discuss measures needed to further Palestinian reforms, the statement said.

Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo said after the meeting that Palestinian officials needed to be able to move freely in order to prepare for upcoming elections and carry out reforms.

He said the task force did not take a position on his requests, but said it would be discussed at a meeting in two weeks in New York.

The working-level meeting in Paris, organized by Norway, reviewed Palestinian reforms in seven areas - elections, financial accountability, local government, judicial reform, market economics, civil society, and government ministries and the civil service.

Palestinians Reject U.S. Vote Idea

The Palestinians have meanwhile rejected a U.S. proposal to have their parliament choose a prime minister who could balance the power of Yasser Arafat - and an official said Friday that sharp disagreements with Washington could jeopardize Palestinian elections planned for January.

Washington has been seeking to sideline Arafat - whom it accuses of stoking violence that has torpedoed the Mideast peace process - while calling for elections as part of efforts to persuade the Palestinian Authority) to undertake sweeping reforms.

But Arafat, who remains popular among Palestinians, would likely be re-elected in an open vote.

A U.S. official contacted Friday refused to confirm the disagreements over the election process.

PHOTO CAPTION

Abdel Razek Yehiyeh, the Palestinian Authority's new, reforming security chief, surrounded by members of the media, listens to a reporter's question prior to his meeting with members of 12 rival Palestinian political factions in Gaza City Thursday, Aug. 22, 2002. The meeting was held in an attempt to forge a united front and get Resistance groups to stop bombing and shooting attacks in Israel and accept a common Palestinian manifesto which could form the basis of renewed peace negotations with the Israelis. Internal talks broke down earlier this month after Hamas and Islamic Jihad vetoed clauses calling for an end to attacks in Israel and implying recognition of Israel. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)
- Aug 22 2:29 PM ET