  We present high-resolution spectroscopy of the neutron-star/low-mass X-ray
binaries 2S 0918-549 and 4U 1543-624 with the High Energy Transmission Grating
Spectrometer onboard the Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Reflection Grating
Spectrometer onboard XMM-Newton. Previous low-resolution spectra of both
sources showed a broad line-like feature at 0.7 keV that was originally
attributed to unresolved line emission. We recently showed that this feature
could also be due to excess neutral Ne absorption, and this is confirmed by the
new high-resolution Chandra spectra. The Chandra spectra are each well fit by
an absorbed power-law + blackbody model with a modified Ne/O number ratio of
0.52+/-0.12 for 2S 0918-549 and 1.5+/-0.3 for 4U 1543-624, compared to the
interstellar-medium value of 0.18. The XMM spectrum of 2S 0918-549 is best fit
by an absorbed power-law model with a Ne/O number ratio of 0.46+/-0.03,
consistent with the Chandra result. On the other hand, the XMM spectrum of 4U
1543-624 is softer and less luminous than the Chandra spectrum and has a
best-fit Ne/O number ratio of 0.54+/-0.03. The difference between the measured
abundances and the expected interstellar ratio, as well as the variation of the
column densities of O and Ne in 4U 1543-624, supports the suggestion that there
is absorption local to these binaries. We propose that the variations in the O
and Ne column densities of 4U 1543-624 are caused by changes in the ionization
structure of the local absorbing material. It is important to understand the
effect of ionization on the measured absorption columns before the abundance of
the local material can be determined. This work supports our earlier suggestion
that 2S 0918-549 and 4U 1543-624 are ultracompact binaries with Ne-rich
companions.
