PARIS, AP, AFP January 27, 2010: A French parliamentary report called last night for a ban on the full Islamic veil in all schools, hospitals, public transport and government offices, saying the burka was an affront to French values.

"The wearing of the full veil is a challenge to our republic. This is unacceptable," the report released by a parliamentary commission said. "We must condemn this excess."

After six months of hearings, the panel of 32 deputies recommended a ban on the face-covering veil in all state-run institutions and offices, the broadest move yet to restrict Muslim dress in France.

The commission called on parliament to adopt a formal resolution stating that the burka was "contrary to the values of the republic" and proclaiming that "all of France is saying `no' to the full veil".

Women who turn up at government offices wearing the full veil should be denied services such as a work visa, residency papers or French citizenship, the report recommended.

The panel, however, stopped short of proposing broad legislation to outlaw the burka on the streets or in shopping centres after cautioning that such a move would have to be reviewed by the courts to establish its legality.

"The wearing of the full veil is the tip of the iceberg," said communist deputy Andre Gerin, the chairman of the commission. "There are scandalous practices hidden behind this veil."

It was not immediately clear whether the government, or parliament, would take up any or all of the 200-page report's recommendations.

A leading deputy in the governing party, Jean-Francois Cope, has already presented an initiative seeking a ban on such veils in the street, dividing the panel. Any action on the report would not come before March regional elections. A first, easy step would most likely be passage of a resolution - a policy statement which carries no legal weight - denouncing the veil.

Home to Europe's biggest Muslim minority, estimated at six million, France is being closely watched at a time of particular unease over Islam, three months after Swiss voters approved a ban on minarets. Muslim leaders have complained that the debate over the veil coupled with an ongoing debate on French national identity has left some Muslims feeling their religion is becoming a government target.

President Nicolas Sarkozy set the tone in June when he declared the burka "not welcome" in France and described it as a symbol of women's "subservience" that cannot be tolerated in a country that considers itself a human rights leader.

Mr Sarkozy was last night visiting a Muslim cemetery in the north that was desecrated several times. It holds the bodies of Muslim soldiers who fought for France.