[xsl] date sorting with internationalisation

[Anil Kumar Veeramalli <anil.v@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi ,

I am using XSL1.0 version. currently I am sorting the date elements like 
this.
my current date format is dd-MMM-yyyy HH:mm:ss.
<xsl:sort 
select="substring-after(substring-after(substring(COLUMN[@NAME='N_DT_EFF'],1,12),'-'),'-')"  
data-type="number"/> 
<xsl:sort 
select="string-length(substring-before($vMonthNames,substring-before(substring-after(substring(COLUMN[@NAME='N_DT_EFF'],1,12),'-'),'-')))" 
data-type="number"/>
<xsl:sort 
select="substring-before(substring(COLUMN[@NAME='N_DT_EFF'],1,12),'-')" 
data-type="number"/>  

Now I want to support the same with French Language. in French my date 
format is looking like this  01-janv.-1900.

what is the better way to sort French Dates.

Thanks,
Anil