| 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. |
