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President Francois Hollande expressed regret on Sunday that a quip he made about poor security in Algeria had caused an outcry in the former French colony, as opponents accused him of a diplomatic blunder. Hollande was attending an anniversary dinner for the CRIF Jewish organization on December 16 when he made a remark to the audience about his interior minister having returned safely to France from a trip to Algeria. The remark spread on social networks, causing an outcry in Algeria where daily El Watan denounced it as a "joke in bad taste" with "pathetic insinuations" on Sunday. Algerian Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra said the remark did not reflect the security situation in his country and he hoped a page could be turned quickly on an "unfortunate incident", Algeria's APS news agency reported.More...