Asma Jahangir, the UN`s special rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, said, at the end of an 11-day fact-finding visit to France, that the controversial ban was introduced without a full appreciation of its possible consequences.

A policy of secularism in state schools, the basis for the ban on Muslim headscarves, Jewish skullcaps and large Christian crosses, has, sometimes, been rigidly applied "at the expense of the right to freedom of religion or belief," she said.

The ban, imposed in September 2004 as a check against what officials said was the rising influence of radical Islam among France`s large Muslim population, was widely condemned in the Muslim world and by some Western critics who found it too harsh.

Jahangir, a prominent human rights lawyer in her native Pakistan, said the ban "has, in a number of cases, led to abuses that provoked feelings of humiliation, in particular among young Muslim women”.

"According to many voices, such public humiliation can only lead to radicalisation of the affected persons and those associated with them," she told journalists.

"Moreover, the stigmatisation of the so-called Islamic headscarf has triggered a wave of religious intolerance when women wear it outside school, at university or at their workplace."

French officials have announced with satisfaction that only a dozen pupils defied it when school reopened early this month, compared to 639, when the 2004 school year began.

Jahangir, who will submit a report on her findings in France to the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Commission early next year, added that the figures given on the ban and its effects were often disputed.

"The issue is one of principle and not a number game," she added.

Muslim groups say official figures overlook large numbers of schoolgirls who did not return to school this year, preferring to take correspondence courses, switch to private schools or go abroad to continue wearing their headscarves while studying.

Jahangir said the ban had helped some Muslim schoolgirls to stand up to pressure to wear a headscarf.

At the same time, it denied the rights of "those teenagers who have freely chosen to wear a religious symbol in school”.

She added that in the case of Sikh boys, who have been barred from wearing turbans, "the law denies innocent expression of religious beliefs".

"It is my impression that the direct and, in particular, the indirect consequences of this law have not been properly considered," Jahangir said.