There’s a 60-day cease-fire in Darfur. Great news, isn’t it? Two weeks ago, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson traveled to Africa and spent two days in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum, where he spoke directly with President Omar al-Bashir. Richardson also traveled west to the Darfur region to negotiate with rebel groups. The result? At face value, many of the warring factions are in agreement: The fighting will stop. But if the recent past is any indicator, this achievement could quickly prove to be a diplomatic dance rather than a serious step forward. That is, if the cease-fire isn’t kaput already.

The genocide in Darfur looks as dire as ever. Four hundred thousand have been killed and violence has driven more than 2.5 million from their homes. Then came the reports this past Sunday that bombs fell once again on villages in Northern Darfur. Hardly surprising, Bashir’s government denied responsibility. To complicate matters further, in the space of a year, two rebel groups in Darfur have fractured into 12. An African Union force of 7,000 have proved powerless in quelling the violence. The Darfur Peace Agreement, signed in May of 2006, effected little if any change.

As Kenneth Bacon, president of Refugees International, told me last week, “Bashir has the objective to improve relations with the U.S. to have economic sanctions lifted.” Bacon accompanied Gov. Richardson to Sudan earlier this month. Apparently, the SaveDarfur campaign in the States has made a real impact on the Sudanese president. Bacon said, “Governor Richardson made the case to Bashir that neither side is winning, so there’s only a political solution.”

Bacon calls for an intense engagement by the AU and United Nations, who have to bring the disparate rebel groups together with a collective bargaining front. And more, almost foreshadowing Sunday’s dark news, Bacon insisted they have to get the government to stop bombing.

While it’s best if the U.S. plays a background role (Richardson reportedly made clear he was not sent by the U.S. government), there are plenty of back alleys to traverse. The U.S. ought to be talking with the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank about debt relief incentives to Bashir, and to the U.N. for development money for both Khartoum and the rebel areas in Darfur. A cease-fire is encouraging, but let’s not forget: The more Darfur hemorrhages, the more blood we’ll all have on our hands later.