It's probably related to moraic phonology, which explains things like like why spanish puts an "e" before "espana" and why CTVR can be a syllable in Czech. I think. My recollection of the second example is from a volleyball player in the 88 Olympics, so I'm not 100% positive.
What's odd is that the differences in Arabic dialects carry these subsyllabic features over from the native languages Arabic replaced. Or something. I mean, that's the Occam's Razor conclusion. Until some religious nut says it's proof the the tower of Babel.