Coup-weary Guineans voted on Sunday in a long-delayed presidential run-off to choose the country's first democratically elected leader after a campaign marred by violence between rival supporters.

Cellou Dalein Diallo, who took 43 percent of the vote in the first round, is the favourite to become the mineral-rich country's first democratic president since independence from France in 1958.

His opponent, veteran opposition figure Alpha Conde, is hoping to improve vastly on his first round tally of 18 percent.

Under pressure from the international community the two candidates -- who come from two ethnic majorities, the Fulani and the Mandinke -- made a joint call for calm on Friday after violent clashes between their supporters.

In Conakry voters streamed into voting stations from sunrise, waiting patiently in line to exercise their democratic right.

"Everybody is in a hurry to finish with the old system, money being stolen to benefit a few, the waste," said retired doctor Saidou Cisse, 67, at a voting station at a seaside school.

"Before, whoever was in power, the treasury was for him and his family. The result: Guinea is rich with its bauxite, its iron, but we live in misery."

Helene Boire, a 55-year-old teacher, is as relieved to see the back of military rule, after the 24-year reign of military leader Lansane Conte was followed by a December 2008 coup upon his death.

"Finally, we will have a leader elected by the people, to serve the people," she said. "It's a celebration, but people remain tense until the results have been accepted."

Interim president General Sekouba Konate, who was in January tasked with leading the nation to its first free election, voted in the suburb where he grew up.

"I am a very proud, and very happy man," he declared, adding he had kept his word as a soldier to return power to civilians.

A first round vote on June 27 was followed by hostility between supporters of the two final candidates, who accused each other of planning to rig the vote.

Alpha Conde, 72, cast his vote late in the morning, saying he had noted "some problems" at certain voting stations, such as people saying their names were not on the list, and one case of attempted fraud.

"We hope that after this vote then we will really begin a process of democratic development, to end impunity ...," said Conde.

His opponent Diallo said the vote had gone well and that "all conditions for free and transparent elections seem to have been met."

However in the upper Guinean cities of Kouroussa and Siguiri his coalition had been "unable to find representatives to monitor the vote" due to the fleeing of his constituents after recent ethnic unrest.

A rumour that Diallo's camp had poisoned water distributed at an election rally by Conde's supporters led to a series of attacks on the Fulani, causing up to 2,000 to flee their homes and leaving at least one dead.

On the eve of the vote, Konate called on Guineans to "break with a violent past" and reaffirmed that the military was not harbouring any "hope to retain power" and that "the final challenge of the transition is to elect our president in peace".

Since independence Guinea has been ruled by "father of independence" turned paranoid dictater Ahmed Sekou Toure and later by Conte, who took power in a coup in 1984 upon Toure's death.

Guinea's troubles deepened when Conte's death led to another putsch.

In September 2009 security forces opened fire on a crowd protesting against the military junta, leading to the bloody massacre of 157 people and horrific scenes of sexual violence which left the west African nation traumatised.

The nation has enormous mineral wealth and multinationals are scrambling for their stake in massive bauxite and iron-ore stores.

However half the population lives under the poverty line, and the majority of homes have neither running water nor electricity.