TRIPOLI, Lebanon (AP) – Several Syrian friends of an American aid worker being held by the Islamic State group and threatened with beheading have called for his release, saying he converted to Islam and was helping Syrians.

The friends of Peter Kassig, who converted to Islam while in captivity and changed his name to Abdul-Rahman Kassig, held a news conference Saturday in Tripoli, Lebanon, a city that witnessed clashes last month between Muslim militants and Lebanese troops.

The 26-year-old Kassig was helping victims of the Syrian civil war when he was captured last year.