KABUL, Feb 1: The remains of one of the only two Jews thought to be living in Afghanistan were flown to Uzbekistan on Tuesday to be handed over to Israeli representatives, the International Committee of the Red Cross said.

Ishaq Levin, the caretaker of Kabul's only synagogue, died on Jan 18 in Kabul of old age and diabetes. He was 80. "We took the body to Tashkent to hand it over to Israeli embassy representatives," Jessica Barry, spokeswoman for the ICRC said.

According to Zebulon Simentov - who shared the synagogue with Ishaq Levin and now claims to be the only remaining Jew in the capital - the dead man was married and had five children who lived with their mother in Israel.

The two men were believed to be the last of a few thousand Jews who once lived in Western Afghanistan and Kabul. Almost all left Afghanistan after the creation of Israel in 1948. -AFP