WORLD : Croatia Minister Stands Firm

ZAGREB, Yugoslavia —  Croatia’s defense minister, wanted by the federal army for allegedly plotting armed rebellion, said today he would resign if that would avert military intervention in the rebel republic.

But Defense Minister Martin Spegelj added that he believes his resignation “would be wrongly interpreted as Croatia’s capitulation and an admission of guilt.”

Spegelj spoke in an interview with Associated Press from a heavily guarded safehouse in an old section of Zagreb, capital of the rebellious western Yugoslav republic.

The standoff between the federal army and Croatia brought the country to the brink of civil war last week. The secessionist republic defied an army order to disarm its reserve militia.