Islamabad, Mar. 14 : Pakistan's leading news channel Geo News was blacked out in several cities on the behest of President Asif Ali Zardari.

According to sources, Zardari has sent a message to the channel's administration asking them to stop their coverage of the lawyers' long march.

In his message, Zardari said that if the channel has recovered the losses incurred after the ban imposed on during the Musharraf's regime, then it should refrain from covering the protest march, The News reports.

Geo news has been airing programs reminding Zardari of his promises to restore the judiciary and Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry.

In the recent past, Geo News has also unearthed several plots which proved that Pakistan's soil was used in the Mumbai attacks.

Meanwhile, the Pakistani media community has strongly criticised the blocking of Geo News in various cities of the country.

The Karachi Press Club (KPC), Karachi Union of Journalists (KUJ) have expressed their outrage over Zardari's order.

"The act of blocking the transmission of any news channel or media cannot be justified. The media organisations of Pakistan offered the government to formulate a code of ethics. The government starts suppressing the media whenever it finds itself in crises," Secretary General of Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists, Mazhar Abbas said.

The international media organisation `Reporters without Borders' also condemned the blocking of the channel's transmission. (ANI)