Iraqi Blasts U.S., Allies in U.N. Speech : Gulf crisis: The world is on ‘the brink of a devastating war’ because the West wants to manipulate Mideast oil reserves, Aziz says.

Iraq’s foreign minister today accused the United States and its allies of bringing “the entire world to the brink of a devastating war” in a quest to gain control of the Middle East’s oil.

In the prepared text of an oft-postponed speech, Tarik Aziz said the U.N. Security Council was hypocritical when it penalized Iraq for its invasion of Kuwait while allowing Israel to continue occupying Arab lands seized in the 1967 and 1973 wars.

He proposed that all Middle East problems--”Palestine, Lebanon, the gulf and others”--be considered on the same basis.

An Iraqi envoy was to read the Aziz speech to the General Assembly tonight.

Aziz said America and its allies “are seeking to gain control over the oil reserves in the gulf so as to have a free hand in manipulating the needs of the world, and especially the needs of the peoples of the Third World, for this important commodity.”

He accused Iraq’s foes of mobilizing “fleets, aircraft and ground forces in the region in a way that has no parallel in contemporary history, thus bringing the entire region, nay the entire world, to the brink of a devastating war.”

In other Persian Gulf action today:

* Iraq allowed four Germans to leave the country after talks in Baghdad between a former high-ranking East German official and the Iraqi government. The move was seen as a gesture to the newly reunited nation. About 300 Germans remain in Iraq.

* The State Department said in Washington that about 300 Americans and foreign-born family members have signed up for an evacuation flight due to leave Kuwait next Wednesday.

The passengers will arrive at Raleigh-Durham airport in North Carolina on Thursday after an overnight stop in London. The flight will be the first U.S. government-sponsored charter to evacuate Americans and their family members since Sept. 22.

* In London, British officials said Baghdad has asked foreign companies to provide lists of their employees who are older than 55 and trapped in Iraq or Kuwait.