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UPDATE 1-VW executive committee balks at Qatar's push for seat -sources

* Qatar wants to join powerful VW executive committee -sources

* Majority of committee members oppose move -sources

* VW, Qatar, Lower Saxony, works council decline to comment (Adds details on Qatar's representation, no decision yet, woman quota)

By Edward Taylor and Andreas Cremer

FRANKFURT/BERLIN, April 29 (Reuters) - Frustrated with the pace of reform at Volkswagen, shareholder Qatar has asked the carmaker for a seat on the company's powerful executive committee but has met with substantial opposition, two sources familiar with the matter said on Friday.

Qatar, the company's third-largest shareholder with a 17 percent stake, wants to join the committee, which currently has six members including the company's chairman, the head of VW's works council, the state premier of Lower Saxony and the chief of trade union IG Metall.

Creating a new seat for Qatar - which has two seats on the wider 20-member supervisory board including outspoken Qatar Airways chief executive Akbar Al Baker - would entail also creating an eighth position for a labour representative, to keep a balance between worker and shareholder representatives.

"There are certain reservations among the executive committee members that admitting two new representatives would weaken the ability of the committee to take decisions," one of the people said, adding that the majority of the current members were opposed to such a move.

The issue is still being discussed by the supervisory board and no decisions have yet been taken, the people said.

Volkswagen has also asked Qatar to nominate a woman for the supervisory board, the people said, as it is obliged to fill board vacancies with female candidates until it reaches a 30 percent quota, but wants instead to formalise the board membership of new Chairman Hans Dieter Poetsch at its annual shareholder meeting in June.

Volkswagen, the company's works council, Qatar and Lower Saxony declined to comment. (Additional reporting by Tom Finn in Doha; Editing by Georgina Prodhan)