The government of President Omar Bashir has maintained a defense budget
of $1.84 billion in 2010, the report said. The Bashir regime was said to
have been bracing for a referendum on the fate of southern Sudan in January
2011,
a development expected to lead to war.
"BMI believes this continuing tension will strengthen defence spending
in Sudan," the report said.
The autonomous region of southern Sudan has also been preparing for
another war. In June 2010, the spokesman of the southern Sudanese military
announced plans to establish an air force ahead of the referendum.
BMI cited rising violence in Sudan in wake of Bashir's re-election in
April 2010. The report said Khartoum also faces the prospect of renewed war
in the western province of Darfour.
"The western region of Darfour saw fighting between Arab nomads and
South Sudan's army in April 2010, leaving at least 55 people dead and 85
injured," the report said. "Security in the region is extremely tenuous as
members of the Rezeigat tribe make their way to the location of the clashes,
just as army reinforcements arrive."