Foreign Minister Taro Aso, a potential successor to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, said he will run for president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party next September if he can get the required 20 party members to nominate him.

But Aso acknowledged this could pose a problem because the intraparty group to which he belongs, led by House of Representatives Speaker Yohei Kono, has only 10 members including Kono and himself.

"Even if I had the desire to run I may not be able to do so," Aso said in an interview Tuesday. "I am not in a position to say for certain."