BAGHDAD, Iraq Al-Qaida in Iraq landed a body blow to the government last week, just as the army took a major step in assuming security control from U.S. forces the key to an eventual American withdrawal.

Whether by design, as claimed, or the sheer luck of timing, al- Qaida's declaration of all-out war on Iraqi Shiites and four brutal days of bombings that killed more than 250 people overwhelmed news of the Iraqi army's successful rout of insurgents from their stronghold near the border with Syria.