‘Frankly quite stupid’: rights groups condemn Biden’s Saudi Arabia visit

Critics question value of US president’s visit, raising fears it will endanger dissidents and legitimise regime’s human rights stanceRights advocates fear Joe Biden’s decision to visit Saudi Arabia will endanger dissidents abroad and be seen by the authorities there as giving the green light to restrict civil liberties domestically.Abdullah Alaoudh, of the thinktank Democracy for the Arab World Now and son of jailed cleric Salman al-Odah, said: “Right before inauguration,