BAGHDAD — The U.S. ambassador to Iraq said today that the American military will "respect the wishes" of the Iraqi government regarding a barrier being built around a Sunni enclave in Baghdad, but he stopped short of saying construction would stop.

Meanwhile, bombings around Iraq killed at least 27 people and wounded nearly 60, authorities said.

Ambassador Ryan Crocker spoke at a news conference a day after Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said he had ordered the building of the barrier in Azamiyah to stop after the project drew strong criticism from residents and Sunni leaders.

"Obviously we will respect the wishes of the government and the prime minister," Crocker said at a news conference. "I'm not sure where we are right now concerning our discussions on how to move forward on this particular issue."

But he defended the principle behind the Azamiyah barrier, saying it was aimed at protecting the community, not segregating it.

Crocker, who replaced Zalmay Khalilzad as ambassador, said "these months ahead are going to be critical" and he urged Iraqi legislators to pass key legislation that it is hoped will help bring minority Sunnis into the political process.

He said the security plan was important but its main purpose was to "buy time for what ultimately has to be a set of political understandings among Iraqis.

As he spoke, some 2,000 of Iraqis took to the streets in the area in northern Baghdad to protest the wall's construction, which residents have complained would isolate them from the rest of the city.