After hunting down Islamic terrorists for 20 years, often at great personal risk, Jean-Louis Bruguière is better placed than most people to predict al-Qaeda's next move.

France's best known anti-terrorist judge says he was “unfortunately not very surprised” by the July 7 bombings in London. “Since the Madrid attacks [in March 2004] there has been a strong upsurge in the threat to Europe,” says the 62-year-old, nicknamed “le sheriff” for his old habit of carrying a handgun in public.