Character Relationship Map: Arabesque

Characters

• Yasmin Azir (played by Sophia Loren) — supporting

  Beshraavi's girlfriend who secretly warns David and flees with him. She claims her father Ali holds her family hostage, a story later revealed as false. She assists David in decoding the message, batt...

• Nejim Beshraavi (played by Alan Badel) — supporting

  Wealthy shipping magnate who hires David to decode a stolen cipher. He secretly ordered Ragheeb's murder and plans to assassinate Prime Minister Jena to facilitate a military coup. He pursues the prot...

• Webster (played by Duncan Lamont) — supporting

  Initially kills a henchman at the zoo before knocking David unconscious. Later joins the conspiracy in the van, discovers the hidden cipher, and plans to betray Yussef to Beshraavi at Ascot. He is acc...

• Mohammed Lufti (played by Harold Kasket) — supporting

  The ambassador to the UK who approaches David alongside Prime Minister Jena. At the airport, he shoots Jena to cover up the assassination plot, only to discover he has killed an imposter.

• Ragheeb (played by George Coulouris) — supporting

  Oxford professor and expert in ancient hieroglyphics who possessed the encrypted message. He is murdered by Sloane, and his death sets the plot in motion as the cipher changes hands.

Canonical Relationships

Family, romantic, and professional connections based on plot evidence.

• Yasmin Azir → Nejim Beshraavi (Romantic Girlfriend) — Their romantic relationship is undermined by Yasmin's secret opposition to Beshraavi's criminal plans.

  The plot identifies Yasmin as Beshraavi's girlfriend. She secretly warns David that Beshraavi ordered Ragheeb's murder and intends to kill David.

Story Dynamics

Alliances, conflicts, and narrative interactions that evolve throughout the story.

• Ragheeb → Yasmin Azir (Narrative Cipher Connection) — Ragheeb's stolen cipher becomes the basis of Yasmin's later cooperation with David.

  Ragheeb possessed the encrypted message, while Yasmin later helps David decode it and uses its information to oppose Beshraavi.

• Mohammed Lufti → Nejim Beshraavi (Unknown Conspiratorial Connection) — The airport sequence links Lufti to the wider assassination conspiracy, although their direct coordination is not explicitly explained.

  Beshraavi's assassination plot culminates at the airport, where Lufti kills the apparent prime minister after the apparent assassination attempt.

• Webster → Yasmin Azir (Alliance Temporary Associate) — They are temporarily aligned within the conspiracy's search for the hidden message.

  After David is rendered unconscious, he awakens in a moving van with Webster and Yasmin, who are both pursuing the cipher.

• Nejim Beshraavi → Webster (Alliance Criminal Associate) — Webster operates within Beshraavi's criminal network while pursuing his own betrayal.

  Webster travels with the conspirators, searches for the cipher, and plans to meet Beshraavi at Ascot to betray another conspirator.

• Nejim Beshraavi → Ragheeb (Conflict Murderer) — Beshraavi's order to kill Ragheeb initiates the cipher-centered conspiracy.

  Yasmin warns David that Beshraavi had Ragheeb killed. Beshraavi hired David to decode the message stolen after Ragheeb's murder.

Story Analysis

A stolen cipher draws an Oxford professor and a deceptive ally into a conspiracy involving murder, political assassination, and a dangerous escape.

Plot Progression

1. The Stolen Hieroglyph — Ragheeb is murdered and his encrypted message is stolen. Beshraavi recruits David to decode it, while Yasmin secretly warns David that the offer conceals a deadly plot.
2. Flight Through London — David hides the cipher in a candy wrapper and escapes with Yasmin. He is captured, interrogated, and expelled from a moving van while rival conspirators continue searching for the message.
3. Betrayal At Ascot — Yasmin presents a false story to Beshraavi and later persuades David to decode the cipher. The hidden message is found, but an attempted betrayal at Ascot ends with Webster's accidental death.
4. The Microdot Warning — David learns that Yasmin's hostage story is false but continues using deception. The wet note reveals a microdot warning that Beshraavi plans an assassination.
5. Race Against Assassination — The airport attack exposes a larger conspiracy and leads to the rescue of the real prime minister. David and Yasmin escape Beshraavi's estate before destroying his helicopter pursuit.