Danish PM takes over climate talks chair

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (UPDATE) - Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen is taking over as chairman of the climate talks, replacing Connie Hedegaard who will lead informal talks, the UN's climate pointman said on Wednesday.

Rasmussen will now be the chairman for the final phase of negotiations which will culminate on Friday with a summit to be attended by around 120 heads of state and government, Yvo de Boer, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC), told the talks in Copenhagen.

"With so many heads of state and government having arrived it's appropriate that the Prime Minister of Denmark presides," Hedegaard told the 193-nation meeting.

"However, the Prime Minister has appointed me as his special representative and I will thus continue to negotiate the...outcome with my colleagues," she said.

She said the move was procedural. Separately, Hedegaard has been criticized by African nations for favoring rich nations in the negotiations. - With reports from the Agence France-Presse and Reuters