KUWAIT MAY RE-REGISTER GULF TANKERS - NEWSPAPER Kuwait may re-register part of its tanker fleet with foreign flag jurisdictions, including the U.S. And USSR, in an attempt to protect them from Iranian missile attacks in the Gulf war zone, U.S. Officials were quoted by the New York Times as saying. The transfers would allow the country of registration to escort Kuwaiti-owned ships in the Gulf. Kuwait had earlier declined an offer of U.S. Naval escorts as too public an admission of its need for protection, they said. Kuwait is also looking at flagging-out to European registries, the officials said. Soviet flag tankers transporting Kuwaiti oil through the Gulf may get Soviet escorts, the officials said. Kuwait had earlier considered having both USSR and U.S. Escorts, but the U.S. Was unwilling to give the Soviet Union a naval role in the region, the newspaper quoted the officials as saying. Kuwait has backed Iraq in the seven-year war against Iran and its ships have increasingly been the target of Iranian attacks. The U.S. And Kuwait have been negotiating for over a month on methods of protecting Kuwaiti ships.