HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Zimbabwe state media says the defense minister is suing an independent newspaper for alleging that he wants to succeed the country's president.

The state-run Herald said Wednesday Defense Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa has filed a $1 million lawsuit against Zimbabwe Independent, a weekly newspaper, for defamation over an article it published in May which quoted him saying he is "ready to rule" Zimbabwe if given the opportunity.

Mnangagwa, a politician from President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF party alleges the article inferred that he is a leader of a faction involved in "power struggles" with other party officials to succeed Mugabe.

The 88-year-old President Mugabe has ruled Zimbabwe since independence from Britain in 1980.

Mnangagwa is touted as a strong leader of a faction poised to take over from Mugabe.