AMSTERDAM, Oct 31 (Reuters) - The global war crimes court will start a hearing in December to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to start a trial of former Congolese rebel warlord and vice-president Jean-Pierre Bemba.

The hearings in The Hague will take place from Dec. 8 to Dec 12., the court said in a statement on Friday.

Bemba's first appearance before the court was in July when he was charged with leading a campaign of rape and torture.

He is the highest-profile suspect to date brought before the world's first permanent war crimes court, set up in 2002.

Bemba was arrested in Belgium in May and is accused of leading Congolese rebels in a campaign of rape and torture in the Central African Republic in 2002 and 2003.

(Reporting by Harro ten Wolde; editing by Michael Roddy)

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