1 | | | Baghdad, 2002 |
| Huda | | A secretary at the Australian embassy. |
| Abdul | Amir | Huda's husband. |
| Khalid | | Abdul and Huda's son. |
| Abu | Issa | A secret police officer. |
| Bakr | | Khalid's friend. |
| Tom | Wilson | Deputy Ambassador at the Australian embassy. |
| Ally | Wilson | Tom Wilson's wife. |
| Oprah | Winfrey | American media proprietor. |
2 | Rania | Mansour | Huda's former friend. |
| Adnan | Nawab | An old poet. |
| al-Kitab | | A bookstore owner. |
| Hanan | | Rania's daughter. |
| Ghada | | One of Hanan's friend. |
| Ben | | One of Hanan's friend. |
| Madam | al-Houri | Adnan Nawab's acquaintance. |
| Uday | Hussein | The eldest son of Saddam Hussein. |
| Hashim | | Rania's husband. |
3 | Saddam | Hussein | Served as the fifth president of Iraq. |
| Bridget | | Alley's mother. |
| Robert | | Alley's father. |
| Marco | Polo | Venetian explorer and merchant. |
| David | Bowe | A character actor in American movies and television. |
| Rupert | Murdoch | Australian-born American media mogul. |
| Ghassan | | A security guard. |
| Mohammad | | A newspaper vendor's son. |
4 | Bryan | Adams | Canadian guitarist, singer, composer, record producer. |
| Amira | Hindawi | Huda's acquaintance. |
| Amr | Diab | Egyptian singer. |
| Mona | Karim | One of the other beautiful village airheads. |
5 | Mrs. | al-Deeb | A hospital supervisor. |
| Bayt | al-Hikma | Baghdadi caliphs. |
| Daphne | | A British nurse. |
| Maria | Callas | American-born Greek operatic soprano. |
| Cher | | American singer-songwriter and actress. |
| Scheherazade | | Female character and a narrator in The Thousand and One Nights. |
| Rumi | | Sufi and Persian poet. |
| Gunter | Kops | The director of the German Cultural Centre. |
| George W. | Bush | 43rd president of the United States. |
6 | Lee | Ping | The Chinese chargé d'affaires. |
| Hassan | Ghraib | An artist. |
7 | Mustafa | | Khalid's uncle. |
8 | Nancy | Drew | A teenage amateur detective solving mysteries in her small town. |
| MIriam | Pachachi | An sculptor. |
| Hatim | | A freelance taxi driver. |
9 | George H. W. | Bush | 41st President of the United States. |
| Saadi | | The concierge at Rashid Hotel. |
| Peter | Francis | Ally's friend. |
10 | Scheherazade | | Main character and a narrator in The Thousand and One Nights. |
| Faisal | | Abu Issa's partner. aka: Bolt Cutter. |
| Mustafa | | One of Huda's brothers. |
| Ali | | One of Huda's brothers. |
| Raghad | | Rania's mother. |
| Muna | | Rania's aunt. |
11 | Basil | | Rania's friend. |
| Rami | | One of Basil's acquaintances. |
| Raed | | One of Basil's acquaintances. |
| Sami | | One of Basil's acquaintances. |
| Kareem | | One of Basil's acquaintances. |
| Naseem | | One of Basil's acquaintances. |
| Imam | Husayn | Grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. |
12 | Abu | Nasser | A photographer. |
13 | Ahmed | | Kareem's brother. |
| Marc | Chagall | Russian-French artist of Belarusian Jewish origin. |
| Malik | al-Bashad | Rania's acquaintance, |
14 | Hatim | | A taxi driver. |
| Ruby | | One of Hatim's daughters. |
| Hela | | One of Hatim's daughters. |
| Farouk | | Miriam Pachachi's brother. |
| Amal | | Farouk's wife. |
| John | Travolta | American actor, dancer and singer. |
| Michelangelo | | Italian sculptor, painter, architect and poet. |
| Auguste | Rodin | A French sculptor. |
| Yusra | Hussein | Bridget's friend. |
15 | King | Shahryar | Persia's unforgiving ruler. |
| Hala | | Rania's cousin. |
17 | Bryan | Adams | Canadian guitarist, singer, composer, record producer. |
| Barbara | | One of Ally's acquaintances from aerobic class. |
| Inez | | One of Ally's acquaintances from aerobic class. |
19 | John | Wales | A journalist. |
| Principal | al-Quds | The principal at New Baghdad High School. |
| Professor | Hafez | Huda's neighbor. |
| Sara | | Ally's cousin. |
22 | Bashir | | Rania's friend. |
28 | Usher | | American singer, songwriter, dancer and actor. |