Mexican leader cuts Canada visit as hurricane looms

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican President Felipe Calderon is cutting short a visit to Canada, where he is meeting U.S. President George W. Bush and Canada's prime minister, to come home because of a hurricane off Mexico.

"I'll return to Mexico tomorrow to attend personally to civil protection," Mexican radio reported Calderon as saying on Monday in Montebello, Quebec, where he is holding talks with with Bush and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Dean killed nine people over the weekend as it blasted through the Caribbean toward Mexico, where it is expected to hit the Yucatan Peninsula early on Tuesday.

With winds near 150 miles per hour (240 km per hour), Dean was likely to become a rare Category 5 -- the strongest type of hurricane -- before making landfall, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

Dubbed the "Three Amigos summit," the two-day meeting was called to improve security and economic ties. The leaders were also to look at the credit crunch and turmoil in global financial markets.

Calderon will hold another round of talks with the two North American leaders on Tuesday before heading home.

He had originally planned to meet other Canadian officials after the summit and then return on Wednesday.