Hussein el-Ziyara

In the novel They Came to Baghdad, Sheik Hussein el-Ziyara is a Holy Man and poet of renown known throughout the Muslim world. He lives in the Iraqi city of Kerbela (today Karbala), a city of religious significance and is held in high esteem by Iraqis who regard him almost as a saint. He plays a significant role in the story but only appears at the end.

Sheik Hussein turns out to be a friend of the British agent Henry Carmichael. He knew Carmichael as a boy. The young Englishman had studied the great Islamic poets under the sheik. At the end of the story, Sheik Hussein reveals that two men who operated a travelling picture show had come to him and had given him a package. They said that the package had come from Carmichael. The package was to be held until Carmichael could retrieve it or until someone else could produce the appropriate pass phrase. Based on the efforts of Victoria Jones and Richard Baker, Mr Dakin of British intelligence is able to produce the pass phrase, a line from an Arabic poem, and thus receives the package from the Sheik. The package comprises microfilms which are the proof of the threat to world peace which Carmichael had been investigating.