Two French police intelligence agencies have issued reports calling burka use in the country a "marginal phenomenon," one of which claimed fewer than 400 women wear the full-body covering, national media reported.

The wearing of burkas — all-concealing traditional dresses, with built-in mesh covering the eyes — has been a controversial issue in France. French legislators have pondered banning the use of burkas and niqabs, full-face veils that ,unlike burqas, do no not obscure use of the wearer's eyes altogether.

President Nicolas Sarkozy has called the burka "a sign of subservience, a sign of debasement."

French newspaper Le Monde reported that two police intelligence reports written earlier this month suggested few Muslim women wear burkas.

One of the reports, released by French intelligence agency Sous-direction de l'information générale, found only 367 women in France wear the burka. But the report does not claim that number is a comprehensive figure, and urges further study into the issue, Le Monde reported.

A committee of 32 legislators from all four major political parties in the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, is expected to deliver its report on whether burkas should be banned by the end of the year.

About five million Muslims live in France, home to western Europe's largest population of Muslims.

With files from The Associated Press