BAGHDAD, April 23 (Xinhua) -- Hundreds of Iraqis took to streets in northern Baghdad neighborhood on Monday to protest the construction of wall aimed at separating Sunni and Shiite zones in the Iraqi capital.

    "The demonstration moved from the Sunni mosque of Abu Hanifa in Adhamiyah toward the Unter Square in the center of the neighborhood to protest the construction of a security wall around the neighborhood," a local police source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

    "They name it (the cement wall) the Sectarian Segregation Wall," the source said, referring to what the U.S. army said last week that it was constructing a more than three-meter-high and five-km-long concrete wall in Adhamiyah to protect the Sunni enclave from death squads attacks.

    U.S. and Iraqi security forces are providing security for the demonstration, he said.

    Many of Adhamiyah residents denounced the "collective punishment", saying that they had not been consulted and the wall will make the whole district a prison.

    On Sunday, Prime Minster Nuri al-Maliki said he had ordered ahalt to the controversial construction of the wall Saturday, asserting that there were other ways to protect Iraqis from bomb attacks.

    Maliki made the remarks during a joint press conference with Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa in Cairo.

    U.S. ambassador Ryan Crocker said in his first news conference since arriving in Baghdad late last month that he will respect the wishes of the Iraqi government.

    "Obviously we will respect the wishes of the government and the prime minister," Crocker said. H added that "the real imperative now with respect to the construction of barriers and other aspects is to bring down the level of violence."