Oct 29 (Reuters) - President Joseph Kabila and former warlord Jean-Pierre Bemba on Sunday contested a run-off vote to decide who will lead Democratic Republic of Congo, a mineral rich country devastated by violence and corruption.

Here are some facts about the two candidates:

President Joseph Kabila

The 35-year-old president grew up in exile in East Africa after his father, Laurent, fought in a failed Cuban-backed rebellion against late dictator Mobutu Sese Seko in the 1960s.

Backed by Rwanda, Laurent Kabila marched across the huge Congo to topple Mobutu and seize power in 1997, his son Joseph at his side.

After military training in China, Joseph was made chief of his father's army and was soon fighting new rebellions also backed by Rwanda and Uganda, in a war that drew in half a dozen foreign armies from across the region.

When a bodyguard shot Laurent Kabila dead in 2001, the ruling elite and their foreign allies ensured Joseph stepped into his father's shoes, making him the leader of Africa's third biggest country at just 29 years old.

Kabila's aides say the quietly spoken president is not shy but listens to many people before making decisions.

Kabila hails from southeast Katanga province, but having spent many of his formative years abroad is seen by many Congolese as a foreigner -- a perception not helped by his poor knowledge of Lingala, the language spoken by most in the west of Congo including the teeming capital Kinshasa.

Jean-Pierre Bemba

Bemba, 44, has the build of a heavyweight wrestler and hails from the northwest province of Equateur. He has been one of the government's four vice presidents during a transitional period before the elections.

During Congo's 1998-2003 war, Bemba headed the Ugandan-backed Congolese Liberation Movement (MLC). His was the first rebel group to sign peace deals with Kabila and the MLC became a political party.

Bemba had a privileged childhood; his father Saolona's SCIBE Zaire conglomerate was Congo's biggest company with more than 10,000 employees. Bemba lost his mother while young and was sent to boarding school in Belgium at an early age.

Over the years Saolona Bemba drew closer to Mobutu and his kleptocratic regime, and friends say the young Bemba, a qualified pilot who ran an aviation business and a mobile phone firm, became a go-between.

When Mobutu, who was from the same province as Bemba, was overthrown Bemba went into exile in 1997. He set up the MLC in 1998 and with Ugandan army backing he seized vast swathes of Congo, financing much of his war through sales of diamonds.

Bemba is feared as a spoiler should he not win, and still has a considerable military force at his disposal.

Neighbouring Central African Republic has asked the International Criminal Court in The Hague to investigate war crimes it says were carried out by his men.

AlertNet news is provided by

del.icio.us  |   Digg  |   NewsVine  |   Reddit