BOGOTA, June 29 (Reuters) - Colombian rebels who have held three Americans hostage for about four years may be planning to target more U.S. citizens in a popular central Andean tourist town, the U.S. Embassy in Bogota said on Friday.

"The embassy has received information indicating that the terrorist organization Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) may be planning to target U.S. citizens in the town of Melgar, Tolima province," said an embassy statement at the start of a three-day weekend in Colombia.

It warned Americans to stay away from the resort town known for its swimming pools and discotheques. Melgar also draws middle-class Colombian tourists from the capital, Bogota, two hours away by car.

Rebel violence has surged this month with a series of deadly bomb attacks in the Pacific port city of Buenaventura and the killing of 11 provincial lawmakers kidnapped by the guerrillas from Cali more than five years ago.

The 17,000-member FARC is holding U.S. defense contractors Marc Gonsalves, Thomas Howes and Keith Stansell, who were captured in 2003 while on a mission to destroy crops used to make cocaine.

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