The inquiry was announced one day after French President Nicolas Sarkozy held an historic address to parliament, where he said the Islamic body-length outfit known as the “burqa” was not a symbol of religious faith but signalled a woman's subservience. The inquiry is intended to establish whether this is the case.

The French president said he clearly supported measures to discourage Muslim women from fully covering themselves in France.

Starting in July, 32 lawmakers from right-wing and leftist parties will study the wearing of the Islamic face-covering, body-length outfits in France.

More than five million Muslims live in France, making them the largest Muslim minority in Western Europe. Ever more French Muslim women are wearing burqas and niqabs, which either cover the entire body, or cover everything but the eyes.

Human Rights Watch said a ban would violate religious freedom. "Prohibiting the burqa will not give women freedom but only stigmatise and marginalise women who wear it," said Jean-Marie Fardeau, director of the Paris office of Human Rights Watch.

France passed a law in 2004 banning headscarves or any other "conspicuous" religious symbols in state schools to defend secularism. In France, the separation of church and state is enshrined in a 1905 law.

wl/ap/AFP/dpa
Editor: Andreas Illmer