  We report results of a BeppoSAX observation of the low-mass X-ray binary
(LMXB) dipping source XB 1916-053. The source joins the small group of LMXB
detected at energies ~100 keV. The non-dip spectrum is well fitted by an
absorbed blackbody with a temperature of 1.62+/-0.05 keV and an absorbed
cut-off power law with a photon index of 1.61+/- 0.01 and a cut-off energy of
80+/-10 keV. Below 10 keV, where photoelectric absorption is dominant, the
dramatic spectral changes observed during dips can be simply modelled by
progressive covering of the blackbody and cut-off power law components. The
blackbody component is very rapidly absorbed during dips, consistent with it
being point-like, while the cutoff power law is more gradually absorbed,
consistent with it being extended. The most likely locations for the blackbody
component are the surface of the neutron star or the boundary layer between the
neutron star and the accretion disk. The extended emission most probably
originates in an accretion disk corona. Above 10 keV, dipping is detected up to
\~40 keV, and there is some evidence for an energy-independent reduction in
intensity of up to 15%. This reduction could be caused by electron scattering
or obscuration. In the first case, the change is consistent with an electron
column density of ~2.9e23cm^-2, several times smaller than the average hydrogen
column measured simultaneously.
