By Abdoulaye Massalatchi NIAMEY, Aug 2 (Reuters) - Niger's President Mamadou Tandja said France's Areva <CEPFi.PA> made payments to army deserters who joined a northern Tuareg-led rebellion, deepening accusations the uranium miner helped finance the uprising. The president, speaking on national television late on Wednesday, also said it would renegotiate Areva's pricing contract, which expires this year, so that the poor landlocked West African state could profit more. Niger's government expelled Areva's local representative last month over allegations it funded the Niger Movement for Justice (MNJ), which has killed at least 40 soldiers since it launched its revolt in February. That followed the expulsion several weeks earlier of a former French army colonel acting as Areva's security adviser, who the government accused of abetting a 1990s Tuareg uprising for autonomy in the desert north and linked with the new revolt. Areva denies financing the rebellion and says the accusations are completely unfounded. The French government has called for a quick solution to the crisis. Tandja told state television late on Wednesday: "We know these men who want to plunder this region, drug traffickers and arms smugglers ... Suddenly they start a so-called rebellion with sophisticated arms and huge resources." "In light of our investigations, there were bank transfers from Areva to soldiers who deserted, and then a retired French colonel who we have expelled was already an accomplice of the ex-rebellion," he said. The president expressed hope that after mediation by Libyan President Muammar Gaddafi, who met rebel leaders this week and told them to lay down arms, the uprising would end soon. "In 2008, we are going to negotiate firmly. Uranium is our product and it will be sold to our benefit, so nothing is going to be the same as before," the president said. At the start of this year, Niger informed Areva it wished to directly lift 1,500 tonnes of uranium to sell on world markets at international prices. Niger currently receives a share of profits from two mines operated by Areva in the desert area around Agadez, according to notional prices which are below actual market levels buoyed by strong demand. Niger is the world's fifth or sixth largest producer with an annual output of around 3,500 tonnes last year, which it hopes to more than double once two new mines come on line in the north east. In recent months it has granted some 60 new licences to Chinese, Canadian, British, Indian and other foreign firms.
