Children's Place urges rejection of Dabah nominees

* Board urges shareholders to vote against Dabah nominees

* Former CEO Dabah puts forth three board nominees

LOS ANGELES, June 16 (Reuters) - Children's Place Retail Stores' (PLCE.O) board of directors on Tuesday urged shareholders to vote against a slate of board nominees put up by former Chief Executive Ezra Dabah.

Dabah, who is a board member and the company's largest shareholder with a 16.6 percent stake, plans to put forth three of his own nominees to the Children's Place board at the July 31 annual meeting in New York.

Dabah has been urging the company to replace its interim chief executive with a permanent CEO and change certain members of senior management. The company had also been considering selling itself under pressure from Dabah.

The children's clothing retailer operates about 900 stores across the United States.

In a separate filing, Dabah himself urged shareholders to vote for his nominees, saying his Committee of Concerned Shareholders of The Children's Place were concerned with the current board's "minimal" stock ownership, "lack of core competencies and experience ... failure to attract a permanent Chief Executive Officer," a loss of key talent and a failure to develop growth opportunities. (Reporting by Nichola Groom; Editing by Gary Hill)