France rejects Qatar's Areva investment terms-paper

PARIS Nov 29 (Reuters) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy rejected conditions set by Qatar for its participation in a planned capital increase by French nuclear reactor maker Areva CEPFi.PA, Les Echos said in a preview of its Monday edition.

Qatar is only prepared to take part in the capital hike if it can invest in Areva's mining activities, Les Echos newspaper said. The Financial Times has also reported that Qatar is seeking guarantees over the value of Areva, for example by having an option to take shares in its uranium mining division.

Areva, which is almost 90 percent owned by the French state, is planning a capital increase which it hopes will raise up to 3 billion euros ($3.94 billion) to finance future development projects.

Areva has been talking to the sovereign wealth funds of Qatar and Kuwait and Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (7011.T) in the hope of sealing their investment by the end of the year.

Sarkozy is also opposed to Mitsubishi's participation, Les Echos said.

Officials at Sarkozy's office declined to comment on the matter on Monday. ($1=.7606 Euro) (Reporting by James Regan and Yann Le Guernigou; Editing by Richard Chang)