TRIPOLI, Libya — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is using unusually blunt terms to describe what the United States wants to see happen in Libya.

Clinton told students and others in Tripoli today that the U.S. wants to see former dictator Moammar Gadhafi killed or captured.

Until now, the U.S. has generally avoided saying that Gadhafi should be killed.

U.S. officials usually say they want to see him brought to justice, something Clinton also said during her daylong visit to the capital, Tripoli. Tripoli and most of the country are now in the hands of the former rebels who deposed Gadhafi, who remains in hiding.

Clinton says the U.S. will keep supporting Libya as it forms a new government.