Tripoli , Libya ( CNN ) -- Leaders of oil-rich eastern Libya declared it Tuesday to be a semi-autonomous region and voted for a 79-year-old former military man to lead it . `` We 're talking about the whole eastern region of the country , '' said Ahmed Zubair al-Senussi , a member of the ruling National Transitional Council , in a telephone interview with CNN from Benghazi . Speaking through an interpreter , he said he wanted the central government in Tripoli to continue to run such matters as defense and the treasury , but to leave health , education and `` social things '' to be managed by local governance in the region , once called Cyrenaica . `` We are not looking to split the country , '' said al-Senussi , 79 , who said he was jailed for 31 years during the regime of former Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi for leading a failed coup d'etat in 1970 . `` We are not looking for division at all . Our target is to keep Libya united . We are hoping to run our region . ... We have the federal government , and we have the local government . '' Al-Senussi said he was elected by 4,000 to 5,000 tribal leaders , politicians , activists and academics who met Tuesday in Benghazi . `` All of them agreed on my leadership to lead the region for the time being , '' he said . But a video posted Monday on YouTube indicated his support was less than unanimous . In it , scores of demonstrators chant , `` Federalism is the path to divisions , '' `` Oh , great , Libyan , do not accept divisions ! '' and `` Tripoli is the capital ! '' Al-Senussi added that he had no interest in grabbing the oil wealth for the region 's residents at the expense of the rest of the country . `` The oil is for all Libyan people , '' he said . `` It would be written into the constitution . '' He added that his first priority would be to stabilize the region . `` Security is a priority now , '' he said . Al-Senussi said he had no immediate plan to resign from the National Transitional Council . `` I was thinking of resigning , but I got advice from some people that I should take some time to see the reactions of the NTC first . '' That reaction came quickly . In a news conference Tuesday in Tripoli , NTC Chairman Mustafa Abdul Jalil denounced the declaration as a move to divide Libya , `` a danger that threatens national unity . '' He called on all Libyans `` to rally around the NTC that has international legitimacy . '' He said the government and NTC are working to establish a decentralized state with more than 50 local councils . Tuesday 's move in Benghazi `` puts the country in danger because the international community will not allow Libya to be divided , unsafe and undemocratic , '' he said . CNN 's Jomana Karadsheh , Roba Alhenawi and Tom Watkins contributed to this report .
`` We are not looking to split the country , '' says 79-year-old former military man . Tribal leaders , politicians , others vote for Ahmed Zubair al-Senussi to lead region . `` The oil is for all Libyan people , '' he says . NTC chairman denounces the declaration as `` a danger that threatens national unity ''