Nawaz Sharif speaks during a press conference - AP (File Photo)

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's opposition leader Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday demanded a full independent investigation over Osama bin Laden's presence in the country, rejecting the government's internal military probe.

“We completely reject the prime minister's committee. It is powerless and cannot investigate the matter in depth,” he told a news conference shortly after returning to Pakistan from medical treatment in Britain.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Monday announced that a lieutenant general would head an inquiry “to get to the bottom of how, when and why” bin Laden had been hiding in the garrison town where he was killed by US forces.

US President Barack Obama has pressed Pakistan to probe how bin Laden managed to live for years under the nose of its military, saying he must have been supported by locals.

Pakistanis have been outraged at the perceived impunity of the US raid, while asking whether their military was too incompetent to know bin Laden was living close to a major forces academy, or, worse, conspired to protect him.

Sharif, considered the most popular politician in Pakistan, called for the government to establish a revised commission within three days headed by the country's top judge and not the military.

“This commission should ascertain the full facts of Osama bin Laden's presence and the American operation in Pakistan,” he said.