BEIRUT: Lebanese President Michel Aoun said on Monday that the country was going "to hell" if a government was not formed, as French efforts to encourage the formation of a new cabinet falter.

Asked where Lebanon was headed if there was no agreement among its fractious leaders, he responded: "Of course - to hell."

Asked whether his televised address meant there was no hope for a breakthrough, Aoun told reporters: "No, there might be a miracle."