After years in exile, a master of an ancient instrument decides to bring his haunting music back to Baghdad

A former Iraqi soldier and prisoner who brought one of the world's oldest stringed instruments back into the spotlight is set to end his exile and take his haunting songs home.

Naseer Shamma is something of a global ambassador for the oud - a pear-shaped, six-stringed wooden instrument that hails from ancient Mesopotamia - but has avoided reaping the fruits of fame in his tumultuous homeland.