NYALA, Sudan, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) -- Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir urged on Thursday the citizens of Darfur region to voluntarily surrender their weapons to the government before the government begins collecting them forcibly.

"The talk about arms collection is serious, and any person who has a gun, it is better for him to hand it over. Anybody who is hiding a firearm, he must voluntarily bring it to the government," said al-Bashir when addressing a people's gathering in Nyala, capital of South Darfur State.

"This is the first phase for the voluntary collection of arms. We insist that the guns should be in the hand of the government only and that it will not be used but for the protection and security of the citizens and the homeland," he noted.

Al-Bashir stressed that the government was seeking to end the state of displacement and refuge in Darfur, adding "our people have become displaced people in camps receiving foreign aid of remnants of food and toxins. This is not anything like us."

Al-Bashir on Tuesday started a tour in Darfur region which has been witnessing an armed conflict since 2003.

The Sudanese government does not have official statistics for the weapons in Darfur, but UN indicated earlier that around 2 million pieces of arms belong to civilians, tribes and irregular military groups.

On Aug. 7, the Sudanese government launched a campaign for collecting arms and unlicensed vehicles in Sudan's Darfur region. Enditem

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