PLO rift delays word for Reagan

Attempts by Jordan and moderates in the Palestine Liberation Organization to issue a joint response to President Reagan's Sept. 1 Mideast peace proposals are being frustrated by the dissent of PLO radicals.

This, in turn, is raising new questions about a split in the PLO between Syrian-oriented radicals and Jordanian-oriented moderates, Monitor correspondent John Yemma reports.

PLO chairman Yasser Arafat and Jordanian Prime Minister Mudar Badran drew up an agreement Wednesday saying there should be a ''special and distinctive relationship between Jordan and a liberated Palestine.'' This was meant as a response to President Reagan's call for a West Bank-Jordanian ''association'' in a future peace settlement.

But on Thursday the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command (PFLP-GC) and the powerful Al-Saiqa organization, both based in Damascus , Syria, criticized the PLO-Jordan agreement, saying it was abandoning Palestinian rights and serving the aims of the Jordanian government. The Syrian government of Hafez Assad is likely behind the criticism, since both groups are heavily financed by Syria.