Can I reference static class vars via a string?

Hi all,

I am trying to set the value of some static vars but I need to reference the class with a string rather than a proper constructor. In AS3 I can do this with:

var ref:Class = getDefinitionByName(classDefinitionAsString) as Class;

ref[varNameAsString] = newValue;

I can't find an equivelant approach that will work in AS2 though. I have tried:

var ref:Object = new [classDefinitionAsString];

ref[varNameAsString] = newValue;

This seems to just create an Object and as the vars that I am trying to access are static I don't really want to be using 'new' I just want to reference the vars.

Is this even possible in AS2 and if so can anyone explain how I might do this?

Cheers for any help