[Dovecot] Fatal: open() failed for /var/run/dovecot/login: Permission denied

I keep getting this message when I try to start dovecot using the -F option. Fatal: open() failed for /var/run/dovecot/login: Permission denied

Checking /var/run/dovecot/login folder permissions does not seem to indicate anything wrong as root has all the permissions it needs. If I am not mistaken, dovecot can run as root while in the login directory correct?

When I try to start the dovecot service, it fails with the message: dovecot dead but subsys locked.

Can anybody help me resolve this issue?

I am running RHEL5.4.

Thanks in advance.