<?php
//write
$xml = new XMLWriter();
$xml->openMemory();
$xml->startDocument('1.0','UTF-8');
$xml->startElement('XML');
$xml->startElement('ELEMENT');
$xml->writeAttribute('attrib', 'кирилица атрибут');
$xml->endElement();
$xml->endElement();
$xml->endDocument();
$xml_string=$xml->outputMemory();
var_dump($xml_string);
//reading DOM
$dom=new DomDocument('1.0','UTF-8');
$dom->loadXML($xml_string);
var_dump($dom->documentElement->firstChild->getAttribute('attrib'));
//reading SimpleXML
$sxml = simplexml_load_string($xml_string);
var_dump($sxml->ELEMENT->attributes());
//reading MSXML COM
$ms= new COM("Microsoft.XMLDOM");
$ms->async=false;
$ms->loadXML($xml_string);
var_dump($ms->documentElement->firstChild->getAttribute('attrib'));
?>