The practice, which affects an estimated 130 million African and Asian women according to the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef), will be punishable by one to five years in prison.

During the age-old operation, all or part of the clitoris and sometimes the labia are removed.

In Senegal some 700,000 women - about one in four - have had the operation.

Supporters of the practice say it is done for cultural and religious reasons, but opponents say it is an extreme form of oppression of women.

Last June the Senegalese minister for women and children called on practitioners to "lay down their knives".

Women from the village of Malicounda, 70 kilometres east of Dakar, then launched a campaign backed by religious leaders to wipe out the practice.

President Abdou Diouf called for the Malicounda example to be followed by the rest of the country.

The ban outlined in an official communique came into effect on Tuesday.