By David Lewis

KINSHASA, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Congolese former rebel chief Jean-Pierre Bemba will use all his legal options to contest President Joseph Kabila's election win, an aide said on Friday, but popular protests against the result were also possible.

Bemba's refusal to accept Wednesday's provisional result giving victory to his rival has raised the spectre of conflict in Congo's capital Kinshasa, which was shaken by election violence a week ago and in August.

United Nations and European Union soldiers -- part of the world's biggest peacekeeping force deployed in Democratic Republic of Congo -- remained on alert on Friday, a day after some Bemba supporters stoned police and cars.

But the normally bustling streets of the sprawling capital were quiet after a torrential tropical downpour kept people indoors.

Bemba's campaign camp had already denounced "systematic cheating" in the counting of votes from the Oct. 29 presidential run-off in the vast, former Belgian colony, which held its first free polls after over 40 years of war, dictatorship and chaos.

The defeated Vice-President, who led a rebel group in Congo's 1998-2003 war, on Thursday rejected the Kabila victory announced by the Independent Electoral Commission. The provisional result must be confirmed by the Supreme Court.

"There is a team working on the legal challenge," Bemba's spokesman Moise Musangana told Reuters, adding it would have to be presented to the Supreme Court by late on Saturday. The tribunal then has eight days to rule on the challenge.

"For now, we are focusing on exhausting all the legal channels to challenge the vote," Musangana added.

Bemba, whose ebullient style contrasts with the reserved Kabila, commands fanatical support in Kinshasa. Diplomats have expressed fears a Kabila victory could touch off a violent backlash from Bemba supporters.

But since Wednesday, Bemba and his spokesmen have been careful not to call for public protests.

"I don't know how the population will react. They may march," Musangana said, without elaborating.

"NO SECURITY GAPS"

Since the Oct. 29 run-off, which went off generally peacefully, tensions have been high in Kinshasa and four people were killed a week ago when forces loyal to Bemba and Kabila fought gun battles in the streets.

In more serious clashes in August, at least 30 people were killed.

A 1,000-strong European Union rapid reaction force, which has backed up more than 17,000 U.N. soldiers and police in Congo, is due to start pulling out when its four-month mission ends on Nov. 30.

Seeking to counter fears that this may leave the capital underprotected, the EU's top military officer, French general Henri Bentegeat, said the phased withdrawal from Dec. 1 would keep an EU military presence in Kinshasa until up to Dec. 15.

"There won't be security gaps after November 30," he said.

But the EU force's rules of engagement after that date would restrict its capacity to intervene, limiting it to defending itself and protecting civilians in danger.

Bentegeat said legal experts were looking at this question.

The elections crowned a peace process following Congo's 1998-2003 war, which created a humanitarian crisis that has killed 4 million people. Aid workers estimate 1,200 still die daily from violence, hunger and disease. (Writing by Pascal Fletcher; Editing by Alistair Thomson; dakar.newsroom@reuters.com; +221 864 5076))

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