Protesters from the Cyrenaica separatist movement took over local council offices in Beida, and put up posters in Benghazi calling for rallies against federalism. Cyrenaica National Council chief Ahmed Zubair al-Senussi declared the autonomy of the oil-rich eastern region on June 1, saying that it would start to run its own affairs as “a federal territory within the framework of the Libyan state.”
