By David Lewis KINSHASA, Nov 16 (Reuters) - U.N. and European peacekeepers deployed in force to deter violence in Congo's capital on Thursday after President Joseph Kabila was declared winner of a historic election in a result disputed by his rival. Pockets of supporters of the defeated rival, Vice-President Jean-Pierre Bemba, turned out in some parts of Kinshasa to express anger at the result announced late on Wednesday by Democratic Republic of Congo's electoral commission. Some stoned passing cars outside Bemba's official residence, while others barricaded a road outside a pro-Bemba TV station. But most of the sprawling city appeared quiet, albeit tense, under a heavy international security operation. White-painted U.N. armoured vehicles and truckloads of blue-helmeted U.N. peacekeepers patrolled the streets and guarded strategic points of the teeming city as European Union military helicopters clattered overhead. U.N. officials, part of the world's biggest peacekeeping force deployed in the vast, former Belgian colony, hailed the Oct. 29 run-off vote and its result a major milestone in Congo's bid to leave behind years of war, dictatorship and chaos. "We are living new days. Congo is a different country than it was yesterday. This is uncharted territory but on the basis of what we've seen and the work that's been done, we are not pessimistic," Ross Mountain, deputy head of the U.N. mission, told Reuters. "It is vital the international community maintains its support," he added. The international security clampdown was aimed at deterring any recurrence of the street fighting between soldiers and supporters of Bemba and Kabila which shook Kinshasa last weekend and in August. Congo's electoral commission late on Wednesday announced incumbent President Kabila had won the presidential run-off, taking 58.05 percent of the votes against 41.95 percent for his rival Bemba. Although the Supreme Court must still confirm the result, Bemba's campaign coalition has rejected it after alleging "systematic cheating" in vote counting. Bemba's camp was due to meet on Thursday to decide how to challenge the vote. Outside Bemba's official residence on a main boulevard, a small but angry group of young supporters hurled stones at cars. Congolese riot police moved in quickly to arrest some of them while U.N. troops backed them up. The Oct. 29 vote was the culmination of a peace process to end Congo's 1998-2003 war in which Bemba led a rebel faction before joining a power-sharing government. Soldiers loyal to the two candidates fought days of street battles in August in which at least 30 people died after the first round results were announced. Four more were killed last Saturday when the two sides clashed once again. The first free elections in 40 years were meant to crown the peace process. Congo's war spawned a humanitarian crisis that has killed 4 million people and aid workers estimate 1,200 still die daily.
