June 24, 1983

International Washington criticized apartheid as ''morally wrong'' in the Reagan Administration's most comprehensive statement on southern Africa in nearly two years. The Administration said that South Africa's racial separation policies would inevitably be dropped and that it was therefore crucial for the United States to help insure that this occurs peacefully and not violently. (Page A1, Column 1.) Yasir Arafat assailed Syria, accusing Damascus of orchestrating the rebellion against him by dissident Fatah officers to undermine his leadership and bring the Palestine Liberation Organization under direct Syrian control. He told reporters that Syrian forces were choking off all supplies to his supporters in Lebanon. (A9:1-2.)

David M. Roderick, chairman of the United States Steel Corporation, met privately yesterday in New York with Ian MacGregor, chairman of the British Steel Corporation, to discuss U.S. Steel's controversial plan to import unfinished British steel. The meeting ''produced no definitive agreement,'' said William Keslar, a U.S. Steel spokesman. Mr. Keslar added that discussions will continue, although he did not give a timetable. When negotiations between the two companies were first announced, July 1 had been indicated as a deadline beyond which the companies would come to terms or cut off talks. However, negotiations are now expected to continue beyond that date.

New York State has selected an isolated site on the Harlem River in the Bronx for a new 1,000-cell maximum-security state prison, senior aides to Governor Cuomo and Mayor Koch said tonight. The plan to build the prison has been agreed to in principle by New York City, the aides said. It calls for the construction of two 500-cell towers with recreation yards surrounded by a wall or a high security fence, in an area adjacent to Metro-North railroad yards near East 132d Street. The site is between the Willis Avenue and Third Avenue Bridges on the Harlem River.

'' In purely practical terms, it is obviously easier for action to be taken by one House without submission to the President; but it is crystal clear from the records of the Convention, contemporaneous writings and debates, that the Framers ranked other values higher than efficiency.'' - Chief Justice Warren E. Burger, in the Supreme Court's decision declaring the so-called legislative veto unconstitutional. (B5:6.)

New York City's Rent Guidelines Board, in a raucous five-hour meeting that was twice stopped by shouting and sign-waving demonstrators, yesterday approved basic increases of 4, 7 and 10 percent for the 300,000 rent-stabilized apartments whose leases expire in the 12 months starting Oct. 1. The percentage increases, which apply to one-, two- and three-year leases, respectively, are the same as those the board approved in 1982. The board approved an additional increase of $10 a month for the owners of apartments renting for $200 a month or less. It also approved a complex provision allowing a special one-time surcharge - a vacancy allowance - of up to 15 percent on apartments that had been vacant before being rented.