Can apply-templates attribute mode be passed a variabl

Can apply-templates attribute mode be passed a variable? i.e. is the
following code legal?

     <xsl:for-each select="x">
          <xsl:variable name="mode" select="@attr"/>
          <xsl:apply-templates select="self::x" mode="$mode"/>
     </xsl:for-each>


     <xsl:template match="x" mode="a">
          ...
     </xsl:template>

     <xsl:template match="x" mode="b">
          ...
     </xsl:template>

     ...

Any help much appreciated.
Seema


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