Army Threatens to Use Troops to Arrest Official : Yugoslavia: Croatia’s defense minister is accused of insurrection plot. Secessionist republic warns of ‘bloodshed.’

The army threatened Friday to send troops to detain Croatia’s defense minister, worsening the struggle between the federally controlled military and the secessionist Yugoslav republic.

Friday’s army statement said “competent organs” within the military were “undertaking steps” to take Croatia’s defense minister, Martin Spegelj, into custody. The statement, carried by the official Tanjug news agency, suggested that Spegelj could face criminal prosecution but did not give details.

A military prosecutor in Zagreb on Wednesday ordered the arrest of Spegelj for allegedly plotting an armed insurrection, but Croatia’s leadership refused to comply.

Representatives from Croatia and its non-communist ally, Slovenia, walked out of crucial talks on Yugoslavia’s future Thursday to protest increased army interference in politics.

Mario Nobilo, an aide to Croatian President Franjo Tudjman, said it was clear that the army wants to arrest Spegelj, but that Croatia would resist.

“The Croatian leadership and his security guards won’t allow it,” Nobilo said in a telephone interview. If the army tries to detain Spegelj anyway, “bloodshed would be certain,” Nobilo said.

Croatian television and radio carried no word of the latest army statement. Asked why, Nobilo said only: “There is no reason to disturb the Croatian public.”

A covertly filmed army documentary screened last week purported to show Spegelj plotting to kill army officers and their families if civil war breaks out in Croatia.

The film, denounced by Croatian authorities as a “Stalinist frame-up,” accused Spegelj and others of importing weapons from Hungary to arm an independent Croatian army.

A secretary in Spegelj’s office in Zagreb said Friday that the minister was back at work after talks with his Slovene counterpart in Slovenia on Thursday.

The army statement Friday was sure to heighten tensions over the role of the federally controlled military.

According to the constitution, the armed forces receive their orders from the federal presidency, which is made up of representatives from each of Yugoslavia’s six feuding republics and two provinces.

Federal Premier Ante Markovic insisted Friday that the armed forces cannot dictate policy.