Title: French Foreign Minister: Failure to Form Lebanese Government is "Terrible Event"

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Thursday that the failure to form a new Lebanese government is a terrible event and criticized the political class governing the entire country. He told reporters at the United Nations in New York, "What I understand is that the designated Prime Minister Hariri... offered to form a government to President Aoun... who rejected it... and it is only logical for the Prime Minister to reach his own conclusions." He continued, "This is yet another terrible event... there is a complete inability among Lebanese leaders to reach a solution to the crisis they caused." Earlier on Thursday, Lebanese Sunni leader Saad Hariri abandoned his efforts to form a new government, further diminishing the chances of reaching any agreement for a government anytime soon to begin saving the country from financial collapse.