Even as violence continues in the western region of Darfur, Sudan’s government on Thursday agreed to restart long-delayed peace talks relating to a separate war in the south. Just months ago, there was optimism that peace would take root this year in the south, where the Sudan People’s Liberation Army has been involved in a 20-year-old battle with the government that has cost more than two million lives. The Bush administration had made an end to that conflict, between southern Christians and northern Muslims, one of its top goals in Africa. Administration officials were even making plans last fall for a White House signing ceremony to mark the end of the war. Group Profile