That was before Peter was indwelt by the Holy Spirit who gives us power to be Christ's witnesses; it was before he had entered into the fulness of salvation.
The rest of the story is in DocRock's quote. "Matthew 10:32-33 "Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven." Like Doc, that was the first thing that leapt to mind when I saw the headline. Like Doc, I was very sad to read this.
How can you be sure that this Jordanian man was indwelt by the Holy Spirit; that he had come into the fullness of his salvation? There are Christians at all stages of maturity on their journey. We cannot judge. We can do no more than we are doing here...speculate on how God might view the man's actions, all the while recognizing that it is between God and the man himself.