London, September 15 : A British security expert has revealed that he has broken safes for Al-Q''aeda head Osama bin Laden and Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, whom he describes as "friendly" and “fun” respectively.

Arthur Riding, 59, said that he met Laden dozens of times while working in the Middle East.

He said that he had installed bulletproof glass at Laden''s home in Saudi Arabia.

He even revealed that he once opened a safe for the terror chief.

"You could talk to him and he was reasonably friendly. There was no clue that he would go on to do what he has done," the Telegraph quoted the father-of-one from Birmingham as saying.

"I worked for the Bin Laden family a lot and that is how I first came across Osama. His beach house on the Red Sea was the most luxurious, expansive building you could imagine. We installed bazooka-proof glass outside his master bedroom.

"His brother was killed in America in a microlight crash and that''s what started to send him crazy. Before that he had been a normal guy really," he added.

While describing Laden, Riding said that he was a man who enjoyed the "high life".

"I installed fireproof cabinets for him, but never asked what was inside. I also remember cracking a safe for him right out in the desert," he added.

Riding further revealed that he had worked for dictator Idi Amin.

"When Idi Amin was forced out of Uganda he was welcomed in Saudi Arabia. I was called in to open a Japanese safe for him, which was pretty easy. After that I met him on numerous occasions. He was a very imposing figure who owned whatever room he walked into. He was jovial and fun, but obviously he had a horrible past,” he said.

"When you asked him about Uganda he would always blame his generals for what happened there," he added.

He said that he returned to Birmingham in the early 90s. (ANI)