MOSUL, Iraq — U.S. forces have been mounting aggressive raids, patrols and other operations to crack down on insurgents in Sunni Muslim enclaves throughout northern and central Iraq in advance of Sunday's national-assembly election, with the hundreds of arrests contributing to a surge in prisoners in Abu Ghraib and other U.S. lockups.

The military said almost 8,000 detainees are being held — a new high.

"We want to eliminate as many of these guys as possible to stabilize things for the election," said Capt. Sean Kuehl, assistant intelligence officer for the 2nd battalion, 5th Regiment, 1st Marine Division, which is based in the restive city of Ramadi, west of Baghdad.

Nowhere are the results of the crackdown more dramatic than in Mosul, a northern city of almost 2 million that was on the brink of complete lawlessness a month ago. In the past month, U.S. troop strength in Mosul has been increased by one-third; the Iraqi military presence has been doubled.

The combined U.S. and Iraqi forces have implemented a forceful policy of "boots on the ground" — more raids, more foot patrols, enhanced policing of the city — that has reduced attacks dramatically.

Few overseas Iraqis registered to vote

AMMAN, Jordan — Only about 16 percent of eligible Iraqi voters living outside their country have registered for Sunday's election, and the largest turnout so far has been in Iran, organizers said yesterday.

Only 9 percent of the 188,091 Iraqis who had registered as of Saturday were from the United States, while 22 percent were in Iran, an overwhelmingly Shiite Muslim nation. In the United States, 16,794 of an estimated 234,000 Iraqi expatriates have registered at sites in five cities.

The International Organization for Migration, which is coordinating the expatriate vote, has extended the registration deadline by two days until tomorrow. The reason for the low overall registration remains unclear.

$300 million moved; U.S. investigating

WASHINGTON — U.S. authorities are investigating why $300 million in American currency was taken out of Iraq's Central Bank this month and flown to Lebanon, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq said yesterday.

John Negroponte said he did not know if the money had been stolen, was somehow related to the political campaign for Sunday's election, or if it had been used to buy weapons. He said no U.S. government money was involved.

"So what we may be seeing ... at least here, is just part of the windup of a political campaign. In any case, we are looking into it," Negroponte said.

The New York Times, which reported the incident Saturday, cited unidentified Iraqi officials as saying the cash had been used to buy tanks and other arms from international dealers in a rush to put together an armored division for the fledgling Iraqi army.

Many killed, injured in fire at hospital

NASIRIYAH, Iraq — Fire swept through the general hospital in this southern Iraqi city early yesterday, killing 14 people and injuring 75, said a spokesman for the Italian military forces based in the city.

The blaze at the Nasiriyah General Hospital was believed to have been caused by an electrical fault.

Water flowing again to thousands of homes

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Fresh drinking water flowed in thousands of Baghdad homes yesterday for the first time since Jan. 15, when insurgents blew up pipes leading from the Karkh water plant that serves the entire western half of the city.

The water shortage provided a major headache for thousands of Baghdadis, already grappling with a sporadic electricity supply and endless lines to buy fuel — not to mention a daily dose of suicide bombs and mortars.

This week's shortage prompted some Baghdadis to dig wells in their gardens in the hope of striking water.

Al-Zarqawi vows to disrupt elections

BAGHDAD, Iraq — A man claiming to be the most feared and wanted militant in Iraq declared a "fierce war" against democracy yesterday and repeated a threat to disrupt Sunday's national-assembly elections.

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian whose al-Qaida-linked group has claimed responsibility for some of the deadliest attacks in post-war Iraq, called candidates running in the elections "demi-idols" and the people who plan to vote for them "infidels," according to a speech reportedly made by him and broadcast on a Web site.

"We have declared a fierce war on this evil principle of democracy and those who follow this wrong ideology," said the speaker. "Anyone who tries to help set up this system is part of it."

Web video shows slaying of Iraqi colonel

BAGHDAD, Iraq — A major insurgent group, the Ansar al-Sunnah Army, posted a videotape on a Web site yesterday showing the assassination of an Iraqi army colonel captured in Mosul.

The tape showed a man in civilian clothes holding a military-identification card. As the man sat in a chair, a masked gunman approached from his right and shot him in the head with a rifle.

Another video posted on the Internet yesterday purportedly showed the shooting death of a captive Egyptian truck driver by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's group.

The authenticity of the videos could not be verified.

Allawi: It's too soon for talk of withdrawal

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi said yesterday it is too early to talk about a withdrawal of U.S.-led forces.

Allawi said Iraqis ultimately want to see their own forces tackle the country's security problems, "but it is too premature to talk about withdrawal."

"We wouldn't like to set a time at all. We would like to have the multinational forces helping us and training and developing both our army as well as our internal-security forces," he said in an interview on British Broadcasting Corp. television.

Freed Chinese hostages to return home soon

BEIJING — Eight Chinese hostages freed by insurgents in Iraq over the weekend were in good spirits and would return home soon, the official Xinhua news agency said today. The eight, kidnapped this month after arriving in Iraq from southeastern China in search of work, were welcomed by Chinese diplomats at a mosque in Ramadi, west of Baghdad.

Last week, the kidnappers threatened to kill the men within two days unless the Chinese government pulled all Chinese workers out of Iraq.

China sent officials to contact mediators and secure the release of the hostages with the help of the Muslim Clerics Association, a Sunni group that played a role in freeing seven Chinese hostages last April.

Some Chinese construction workers and private entrepreneurs remained in the country, Xinhua said, adding, "They are helping Iraq recover from the wounds of war with their honest labor."

There was no mention of ransom being paid.