With word out that Canada will send a small military contingent to war-torn Sudan, a military analyst is asking why.

"It's a surprise for a couple reasons," Col. Michel Drapeau (Ret.) told CTV Newsnet on Saturday.

Canada was supposed to give its troops a break from foreign deployments, he said.

Yet the government is prepared to formally announce within days that 150 troops will be sent to Sudan, CTV News has confirmed.

Thirty-one solders had previously been committed to act as advisers to the Ethiopia-based African Union mission and the UN Standing High-Readiness Brigade in Khartoum.

The Canadian Press, who first reported the story, reported the government will likely throw in some old military equipment and add to the $20 million in humanitarian aid it has already given Sudan.

Drapeau noted Canada always operated under some form of alliance, such as the United Nations banner.

"I haven't heard any call from the United Nations to send any troops, let alone Canadian troops by themselves, to this far distant land," he said.

"So you have to wonder, for what aim is this deployment? It's certainly not in the national interests of Canada ... Could it be for political purposes?"

Sudan does play a role in Canadian domestic politics.

The Liberal minority government of Prime Minister Paul Martin faces possible defeat in Parliament.

To survive, the government requires the support of all three independent MPs.

David Kilgour, who bolted from the Liberal caucus this spring, is one of those independent MPs.

He has said Canada's response to the Sudan issue will play a major role in his decision on whether he will support the government in any non-confidence vote.

Kilgour -- who has recently been to the Darfur region of Sudan, where the conflict is the most intense -- met personally with Prime Minister Paul Martin earlier this week.

When asked Thursday whether electoral concerns were at play in their conversation, Martin said no.

"The question of Darfur for me is very important," Martin said, insisting he has personally raised the issue several times in the last 10 months.

"It's one of the areas where I believe Canada must play a leadership role."

Kilgour told reporters after that he requested "boots on the ground," plus helicopters, food, medicine and money.

With files from The Canadian Press