 In July 1989 , the embassy moved to a new , 80 @-@ acre ( 32 ha ) compound , 6 miles ( 9 @.@ 7 km ) from the previous embassy and James K. Bishop was appointed as the United States ' ambassador to Somalia . Ambassador Bishop had significant experience in crisis management at US embassies . In 1967 , he was at the US Embassy in Beirut , Lebanon when the Six @-@ Day War erupted . About 3 @,@ 600 Americans were evacuated in 33 hours ; Bishop was one of 26 diplomats and soldiers that remained in the city . As deputy assistant secretary of state for Africa from 1981 – 87 , Bishop chaired several task forces for crises and gained experience in the State Department 's operations center as evacuations were carried out during several coups d 'etat . During his previous assignment as Ambassador to Liberia ( 1987 – 90 ) , Bishop was overseeing the voluntary evacuation of embassy staff and civilians as a civil war in Liberia spread , when he left in March 1990 . Soon after returning to Washington to prepare for his new appointment to Somalia , he was appointed to a taskforce to deal with the crisis in Liberia , which included a gradual evacuation of American civilians and a rapid closure of the embassy in August . 
