MAHA EL DAHAN and LAILA BASSAM LEBANESE politician Saad al-Hariri has abandoned his effort to form a new government, dimming hopes of a cabinet being agreed any time soon to start rescuing the country from financial meltdown. Hariri was designated in October to put together a government following the resignation of Prime Minister Hassan Diab's cabinet in the wake of the catastrophic Beirut port explosion. Lebanon's deeply divided politicians have failed to agree despite fears of social unrest over worsening living conditions. "It is clear we will not be able to agree with his Excellency the President," Hariri told reporters…