TUNIS - The foreign minister of Tunisia, I' bin Farteen, has announced that the northeast corner of the country has broken off and declared independence. He said that section of Tunisia is now calling itself Threenesia. He added he was confident that Tunisia and Threenesia would peacefully co-exist.
"It is the only part of Tunisia which has minerals, and they simply do not want to share their wealth with the rest of the country. We really don't have an army or national guard to prevent them from doing this, so we're going to have to go along."
He expressed his prediction that the newly formed Democratic Republic of Threenesia will seek membership in the United Nations. He also stated that Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and U.S. president George Bush have officially recognized the new country, and U.S. mining companies have signed preliminary agreements with Threenesia's nascent government.
